Harry Potter and the Other Snake Lord
by A Fire in the Attic
Summary: Finally, Harry's battle is over. Voldemort's gone, and all is right in the world. Well, sort of. HPxGW, HGxRW, GaaOC, NaruHina, DracoSaku, NejiTen, TemaShika, HakuOC, SasuKarin, SaiOC HP Naruto Xover Ch 13-Plagiarism? No.
1. To England!

_Yay! A Harry Potter/Naruto Xover! WHOO! I'm so proud of myself._

_I've gotten a lot of comments that the first chapter needed work, so I present to you the new and improved chapter uno! _

_**Warnings:** THERE ARE DEATHLY HALLOWS SPOILERS! Also, there are spoilers from the anime. I'm not sure how far. Oh, well. For my GaaUsa fans: Usagi's in the story (She's in most my stories), however, she and Gaara won't be together. –Cries- Everyone who is dead remains dead—except for Haku. But I love Haku. So he's back. XD_

_I feel like I should mention the ages._

_Ages:Naruto, Shikamaru, Hinata, Gaara, Sakura, and Sasuke: 17_

_Neji and Tenten: 18_

_Haku, Temari, and Usagi: 20_

_**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter. Masashi and Rowling do! I don't even own the title, Akatsukilover2010 does—she wrote the Other Snake Lord, another HP/Naru Xover, which is probably much better then mine—**read it! **(I got permission, by the way)_

_**Claimer**: I tried to make this plot different then other Xovers that are out there. Certainly, in some cases, they're the same--I OWN THE DIFFERENCES!_

* * *

"What do you mean, my brother's dead? There must be some mistake!" Orochimaru frantically cried. The shock on his face was visible, even in the dark, underground tunnels. Voldemort and Orochimaru had never been close, but they were still family. Family death always bites.

"No, Orochimaru-sama. Our contacts were absolutely certain. Voldemort-sama has died," Kabuto informed him. He hated to disappoint Orochimaru, but lying would only have made it worse…

"Kabuto! Who killed him?"

"Well, technically, he killed himself—however, the fault lies on Harry Potter, a young wizard."

"Wizard? Oh, right. The silly type of shinobi from Voldemort's world…" Orochimaru recalled. "Kabuto, send someone to wake Sasuke…we need to make a little visit to Mr. Harry…"

"Ah…Orochimaru-sama, I believe it's Mr. Potter—they give the surnames last in England."

"Oh."

A few minutes later, Sasuke entered the room, looking pissed off at the unwanted end of his slumber. "What is it?" he asked.

"We're going on a mission of sorts, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru waited for Sasuke to display an emotion other than anger.

"Hn." Sasuke disappointed him with indifference.

"Kabuto…" Orochimaru muttered, deciding patience was the best approach. He signaled for Kabuto to explain.

"We're going to kill the murderer of Orochimaru's brother."

"Hn." Still apathetic, Sasuke shrugged.

"Alright. We leave tomorrow."

* * *

"Are you sure?"

"Hn. I'm sure."

"Orochimaru said—"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama, he's going to kill Potter-san," Sasuke snapped, cutting her off.

Tsunade sighed. "I'll talk to Dumbledore. Thank you," Tsunade said, truly meaning her words. What would she do without dearest Sasuke?

"Hn." Sasuke left Tsunade's office, heading for Otogakure.

_Being a double-crosser is almost more trouble than it's worth…_ he thought, dodging a civilian.

* * *

Tsunade picked up the mirror that Dumbledore had given her previously. "Dumbledore!" she cried, looking into the mirror.

Instead of the pale blue eyes she had grown used to seeing in the mirror, brown eyes stared back at her.

"I suppose you are the Tsunade-sama that Professor Dumbledore spoke of…" said a voice in the mirror. "I am Minerva McGonagall. I am the current Headmistress—you see, Dumbledore has, well, he's passed away. He said you would only contact me in times of dire need. What is it?"

Tsunade, naturally, reacted to the news of Dumbledore's passing. Carefully keeping her face straight, she spoke. "I'm very sorry to hear that."

"We all are." McGonagall sounded very tired.

Tsunade pushed on. This was no time for distractions. "I have reason to believe the Orochimaru, the brother of Voldemort, will come to your world to kill Harry Potter. I think he's upset about his brother's death. To make it worse, he is just as willing to kill anyone who gets in his way as Voldemort was. I suggest that you allow us to send some our Shinobi to guard Potter-san." The words were a frantic rush.

"That won't be necessary—Harry is capable of taking care of himself." McGonagall said severely.

"That may be true of the wizards and witches of your world, but Orochimaru is a different sort of, er, 'wizard', I suppose. He won't use 'magic' you've ever seen, or even heard of. It will all be new. This is why I suggest—no, request—that you let us send some shinobi. They have seen it all before, know how to conquer it, and Orochimaru won't suspect their arrival. Please accept our offer of help." Tsunade was still desperate. It was crucial that Harry Potter, a known ally to Dumbledore remain living, if Dumbledore had perished.

"…Alright. But how do you plan to keep them with Potter at all times?"

Tsunade considered this. "They can be exchange students. And teachers, if necessary."

"I don't know if that's wise... It might be better if they're all at least 18, don't you think?"

"They'll all be at least seventeen. They've been doing this since they we're twelve—or younger. Trust me, they can do this."

"I don't know…" McGonagall still seemed unsure.

Tsunade pushed harder, recalling a piece of trivia from Dumbledore. "Don't wizards come of age at seventeen in your world? Why should this be any different?"

"I suppose so." She seemed quite put out. "How many will you send?"

"Ah…eleven. You have four openings for teachers, right?"

"Five, actually," McGonagall said.

"In that case, I'll send twelve. Five of the twelve will be teachers. It's simple as that. Agreed?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"We'll send them tomorrow."

"Alright…" McGonagall's face vanished from the mirror, and Tsunade sighed again.

She downed the rest of her sake. "I smell a hangover," she commented to no one, pouring some more sake.

* * *

"Sasuke, you should really stop sneaking out…" Orochimaru said chidingly the next morning.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, uncaring.

"I can't afford for you to keep killing the servants I send to awake you…" Orochimaru continued as though Sasuke hadn't said anything.

"Hn."

Kabuto snickered.

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Orochimaru sighed, wondering_ w_hy he couldn't have had followers like his brother's—those who do what he wanted and feared him… Of course, his brother didn't need to keep them alive…

"We need to go now, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto spoke up, holding out a scroll.

Orochimaru nodded. "Start the jutsu, Kabuto…"

Kabuto nodded, unrolling the scroll. Dimly, Sasuke noticed a symbol that resembled 'summoning'. "You'll need to hold on to the scroll."

Dutifully, they placed a hand on the scroll.

"Portkey no jutsu!" Kabuto cried, yelling the jutsu.

_TO ENGLAND!!! _The thought seemed to resonate in all three shinobi's head

Something seemed to hook behind Sasuke's navel, and yanked hard. Suddenly the three of them were spinning.

If Sasuke hadn't been a total ice cube, he would have screamed.

But, having the personality of a log, he remained silent, though Orochimaru hissed, and Kabuto screamed like a little girl.

Then they were falling.

"Oof!" Kabuto grunted as he hit the ground. Orochimaru landed on top of him.

Nimbly, Sasuke landed on his feet. He looked at his 'master' and his fellow apprentice. He rolled his eyes at them.

"Orochimaru-sama, we should do this undercover. Potter has to go to school—he didn't attend last year. So… Sasuke can be a student at the school. He can befriend Potter, and when the time is right, we can make our move." Apparently, Kabuto had had an epiphany while shrieking and falling.

"Brilliant plan, Kabuto."

Sasuke chose to remain silent.

"Are you up for it, Sas-u-ke-kun?" Orochimaru taunted, taking care to drag his name out into three syllables.

"Hn."

"I'll take that as a yes." Orochimaru said with a smirk, though the 'hn'ing was really beginning to irritate him. "We must get a list of supplies, and try to see if we can enter you into the school."

"Hn."

"I'll begin work on it immediately!"

"Kabuto, one question. Where are we?"

"Well, it appears we're at Godric's Hollow."

"This will be our meet up spot…Kabuto…You go see if you can get Sasuke enrolled in the school. Sasuke…buy us clothes so that we'll blend in…" Orochimaru commanded.

"Hai."

"Hn."

"STOP SAYING 'HN', YOU FRIGGIN' IDIOT!" Orochimaru snapped, finally losing it.

Of course, being an Uchiha, Sasuke couldn't let _that_ one lie. "HHHH-NN."

"INSOLENT BOY!" He reached out as if to slap him—of course, Orochimaru wouldn't ever do anything to Sasuke—he needed him alive. And curse the boy, two years ago; when he had needed his body, he had vanished without a trace. And once again, Orochimaru had to find another person to trade bodies with. Disgusting.

Sasuke and Kabuto left to go on their respective 'missions'.

* * *

Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, Hinata, Neji, Tenten, Anko, Kakashi, and Haku stood in front of Tsunade's desk. After…the incident with Juugo…Haku had traveled for two years, then come to Konoha, and Tsunade had welcomed him as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf.

"What's our mission, Granny Tsunade?" Naruto asked excitedly.

Uninterested, Kakashi read his book. Anko tried to read over his shoulder.

"You're going to go to England, to protect a boy named Harry Potter from Orochimaru."

Without their permission, everyone's thoughts turned to Sasuke. Naruto was the only one to speak. "Sasuke…"

"He'll be there. Please do not attack anyone until they do. We are not going to attract attention, understood? You're just protecting the boy. You'll be students in the school…" she continued her explanation.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Temari, Gaara, and Thuuran Usagi (1) walked into the room.

"We're ready to go, Tsunade-sama!" Temari yelled.

"I thought Kankuro was coming," Tsunade asked in confusion. "Don't you need to remain in Suna, as Kazekage?"

Gaara spoke up. "He was, but then he got sick at the last minute, so he's stepping in for me as Kazekage."

Naruto stared at him. "That was more than three words…"

"Correct," Gaara acknowledged. He ducked his head, and his red locks covered the smirk that crossed his face.

"Now we're back to one," Usagi said, ruffling Gaara's hair. She smiled at him, as a big sister might smile at her kid brother.

He frowned, properly indignant. "Cut that out."

Kakashi, still bored, read his book. Anko gave up trying to read over his shoulder.

"So your mission—"

"We already know," Usagi interrupted, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Okay." Tsunade was slightly put out, but let her disrespect pass. "Let us move on. Here," she said, tossing them a scroll. " Unroll and touch."

Looking at her strangely, they obeyed. She smirked. "Portkey no jutsu!"

When they were out of her office, she smiled. Payback, she thought with satisfaction.

* * *

Finding themselves on a grassy knoll, after their unexpected trip, they stood up brushing themselves off. Poor Hinata was trying to regain her breath—it had been knocked out of her when Naruto had landed on her. That in itself had made her breathless, but for a different reason.

Neji spoke first. "That was…interesting. Where are we?"

"I'm not sure…" Shikamaru said, scratching the back of his head.

Temari rolled her eyes. "Crybaby, don't be so stupid—there's the castle we're going to school at."

A huge man walked towards them from the castle. "Hello, I'm Rubeus Hagrid."

They all stared at him, except Kakashi because—well you know.

"Why don't yeh come up teh the castle, teh meet Professor McGonagall?"

At this point, Haku decided to take charge. Everyone else seemed somewhat intimidated by Hagrid's height. After spending far too much of his life with Zabuza, it was nothing. "Okay. Come on, everyone," he said, in that beautiful (girly) voice.

Hagrid made small talk as they approached the castle. "I won' be here, once the term starts, though. I'm goin' teh Romania, teh study dragons, with Charlie Weasley. That's why we needed a new Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Who'll that be?"

"That's me!" Usagi said with a grin. Everyone was warming up to the half-giant. It was impossible not to.

"Really? Have yeh studied Magical Creatures before?" Hagrid seemed genuinely interested.

"Well, no. I was hoping I could have someone suggest some material for me to study." She turned her face up to his, still smiling.

"I have lots in m' cabin! Why don' yeh come by after McGonagall tells yeh what's happenin'?"

"Alright. Thank you." She seemed pleased.

"Who else is teachin'?"

"I'm teaching Potions…" Kakashi said, without looking up from his book.

"I'm Transfiguration," said Anko. She was feeling quite put out, because she wanted to know what happened next in Icha Icha Paradise.

"I'm teaching Muggle Studies," Temari said, "because I heard the teacher died last year."

"Ah…that she did. What about Defence against the Dark Arts?"

"That's me." Haku's voice was quiet, but firm.

Hagrid looked at him doubtfully. "Not teh be rude, or anythin', but yeh don' look like you could defend against a fly…"

Haku looked at him coldly. "Looks are deceiving. Very much so in my case."

"Sorry, miss."

"That's just another way you've been confused. I'm male."

"…Oops."

"Don't worry. It happens all the time," Haku muttered, as Naruto snickered. "Even Naruto fell for it."

Naruto abruptly stopped laughing. "Shut up."

Now Sakura silently laughed at him.

Hinata couldn't stop a grin spreading across her face, and no one else bothered trying to stop they're smirks.

"Don't worry, Haku!" Usagi said with a grin, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm sure you'll find someone who won't care that you have a definite feminine appearance." She looked away, to talk to Temari, but not before he saw the accusation she tried to hide from him.

Haku sent her a glare, but sighed inwardly. It was apparent, she still hadn't forgiven him.

* * *

"Alright, Mr. Yakushi. We'll accept Mr. Uchiha. Here's a list of things he needs to purchase."

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall." Kabuto walked out the door, and ninja poofed away.

A few moments later, the shinobi from Konoha entered the room.

"Oh. You must be the exchange students and the new teachers. Welcome to Hogwarts." McGonagall's smile was welcoming.

"Thank you," Haku said softly.

"These are the supply lists," she said holding out seven lists. "I assume you'll all be seventh years."

"Yes."

"And here are your detailed descriptions of the course you're teaching." She held out five thick books. Each of the older shinobi took one.

"This is a picture of Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Ginny Weasley. It may also be in your best interest to watch this boy. He was allied with the Dark Lord, though he claims to no longer be on his side. His name is Draco Malfoy. He's only here because he failed Defense against the Dark Arts. At that point, apparently, he thought he had the best protection against the Dark Arts—his loyalty. Obviously that won't help him now."

"Makes sense. Thank you. We'll go, now."

* * *

Standing in Diagon Ally Sasuke looked at the list that Kabuto had given him. _I CAN'T READ THIS! What's that jutsu? Oh, yeah!_

He muttered a jutsu to help him read the weird language. _Ahh…_

After he had purchased almost all of the materials, he headed towards Ollivander's.

A bell rang as he opened the door. A middle aged man walked out of the back of the store. "Oh. Hello. Can I help you?"

"Uh, yeah. I need a new wand—I broke the one I was using before."

"Most wizards get only one wand…" the man responded.

"I was using my father's previously."

"I see. Well…here, try this one. Ash and dragon heartstring, 9 inches."

Sasuke took the proffered wand, and waved it wildly around. The window broke.

"Reparo," the man murmured, waving his own wand at the window. The glass jumped back into the pane. He snatched the wand back. "Not that one…Try this: holly and unicorn hair. 7 and ¼ inches."

Again, he waved it. Bang. The chair broke…

The man sighed, though he didn't look too surprised. "Reparo," he murmured again. The chair snapped back together. "Hmmm…try this. Beechwood and basilisk skin core, 11 inches."

_That sounds better._

Sasuke grasped the wand, and warmth spread through him.

"Good job!" the shopkeeper looking absolutely delighted.

"Wait…I thought Ollivander's only supplied unicorn hair, dragon heartstring, and phoenix tail feathers."

"Mr. Ollivander did, but the new management also supplies basilisk skin and veela hair cores."

"What happened to Ollivander?"

"The Dark Lord killed him." (2)

"Oh. Well, thank you! I'm going now." Sasuke exited the shop._Hmmm…says I'm allowed to bring an owl, toad, or cat. Well, that's lame._

He went to Magical Menagerie, the 'Wizard Pet Store' (3).

When he got there, he looked around, and decided he didn't particularly want an owl. Too loud, he believed. A toad? Definitely not. Cats? They don't' really go well with his personality, you see.

A hiss echoed through the room. Slowly, Sasuke turned towards the glass case containing the snake. He leaned towards the small black snake.

"Hello…" he murmured to the snake.

"_Hello."_

"Hmmm… What's your name?"

"_I don't have one."_

"I like you. Hmmm. How much for the snake?" he asked, abruptly turning to the man behind the counter.

"Well, you aren't allowed to have those at Hogwarts…"

Sasuke gave him the 'do-I-look-like-I-care' look.

"Ah…never mind. 5 Galleons."

Sasuke handed over the large coins. "Here." He stuck his hand in the case and the snake slithered up his arm under his sleeve. "Toodles."

Rolling his eyes, he ninja poofed back to Godric's Hallow.

"Hello…Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru hissed from the shadows of the room.

"Hn."

"I told you to stop saying that!"

"Hn. What's your point?"

"Oh, leave me alone," Orochimaru snapped.

"Hn. Whatever."

"CUT THAT OUT!"

"You know, I'm only saying 'Hn' because I'm emo. And you taught me to be emo. You have only yourself to blame, hn."

Orochimaru hissed in frustration.

A black head poked out of Sasuke's collar. _"Who hisses in such an angry manner?"_

"That's the Emo Lord. You can ignore him." Orochimaru's all-knowing tendencies were really starting to irritate him.

"Sasuke! You dare hiss in return to me?!?" Orochimaru stood, mouth agape.

"…I didn't hiss."

"Yes you did! HISSING IS MY LINE!"

"You're annoying." Sasuke started to walk away.

He hissed again.

"_He shouldn't hiss in such a manner."_

"I know. It's really irritating."

"STOP HISSING!"

"FOR THE LAST TIME, I AM NOT HISSING!"

"…Why are you hissing, anyway? Are you talking to the snake?"

"…Yes. In Japanese, not hissing."

"You are hissing!"

"_What is he saying?"_

"Why can you understand me, but not him?"

"_You are speaking my language…"_

"So, I AM hissing?"

"_I suppose so…If that is what you call it."_

"Can most people understand you?"

"_You're the only one I've met," _she said, _"But then, I am young."_

"Hmmmm…I must ponder this."

Sasuke wandered off while Orochimaru continued to hiss and pout.

* * *

_(1) If you don't know who that is, go to my story Do you love me? Except she's older than everyone else—she's Haku's age in this story._

_(2) Please note the next chapter's beginning A/N for explanation._

_(3) As dubbed by me._

_It's over! Yay! This is an incredibly long chapter, for me, anyway. My goal is to make them all this long! Yay!_

_I need ideas for the name of Sasuke's snake. Or will she just remain nameless?_

_Who knows?_

_Anyway, this chapter was vaguely Sasuke-centric. They won't all be. I'm not going to tell you who else-centric it will be…you'll have to wait!_

_And people have commented on how 'awesome' Sasuke is in this story, considering he's a total loser in the Anime/Manga. Anywho, the reason for this is, I don't like him—I hate him, right now—so I make him cooler than he actually is. Like when my friend and I play 'Naruto Ultimate Ninja 2', she makes Ino, __another total loser, totally awesome and undefeatable. (While I'm talking about this, I'm actually really good with Neji and Haku. Weird, eh?) BTW, I don't own the really fun video game._

_IBG out!_


	2. I've Been Workin' On The Railroad!

_So, we have a story I care about! Awesome!_

_I hope you guys care, too. _

_Thanks to: Favrite of Chaos, Sheenio, The Crazy Evil Akatsuki Neko, pokeon, QueenMeStar, Mood-chan, and Shrimps of Mass Destruction._

_**Disclaimer: **__This story only gets one. See last chapter._

_**Claimer:**__ Ditto._

_So, in this chapter, we've skipped to the train ride._

* * *

"And here I thought I wouldn't ever have to ride this train again," Ron muttered resentfully. 

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Hush, Ron."

Harry knew for a fact that she wouldn't—couldn't, actually, stay mad at Ron for long, so he didn't worry about it too much. Their squabbles could be irritating, but at least they weren't long-lasting anymore.

"The train ride's not even that bad," Luna remarked, looking over her magazine, "The Quibbler". "It's the snarkles I'd be worried about…"

"Of course. Snarkles are on everyone's list of things to be concerned about."

"Of course they are, Ron! What else do they have to be worried about?" Ginny asked. She smiled at Harry from across the compartment. He flushed slightly, and returned the grin.

"N.E.W.T.s!" Hermione cried. "We should all be terrified about N.E.W.T.s!"

"Hermione, don't be so worried. You know you'll do the best in…this year, even if you have been gone a year. It doesn't matter," Harry reassured her.

"Which brings us back to the question of 'Why are we here?'" Ron yelled.

"Pray tell, dear brother, how?"

"I dunno…I just want to know why."

"Because, we need to complete our schooling. Obviously. What are you going to do with your life if you don't?"

He shrugged.

Harry laughed, and his eyes turned out into the hallway. A rather large group of teens were walking by. One of them, hanging near the back, turned his green eyes, rimmed with lack of sleep, into the compartment, skirting them over the group, and pausing on Harry. He nodded in acknowledgement, and his messy red hair fluttered over his forehead, which drew Harry's attention to the red symbol above his left temple. It was obviously an Asian symbol, but whether it was Chinese or Japanese, or even Korean, Harry didn't know. It wasn't like he studied Asian writing systems. (A/N: although, it's pretty obviously not Korean, their words/letters whatever they're called, generally have a circle in there somewhere.)

Then the group was gone.

Ginny had also noticed the group. "I've never seen them before…"

"I haven't either," Hermione admitted. "Although, I suppose we could have just never had any classes with them."

"We should have at least seen them at the feast," Harry pointed out. "And I certainly would have remembered the red-headed boy."

"What do you think, Ron?"

Ron didn't answer, for he had fallen asleep. Hermione shook her head in frustration.

Luna looked up. "Don't ask me…I was reading about defense against snarkles…" her eyes returned to the magazine, which she happened to be holding upside down.

"It's going to be so lonely without some of the kids from our year…"

"But look at the bright side! Malfoy won't be there!"

Ron, who had for some reason unknown to us all, woken up, pointed out into the hall, and said, "Speak of the devil…"

It seemed that our heroes could not, in fact, escape the clutches of Draco Malfoy, son of Mr. Weasley's arch-enemy in the Ministry, Lucius Malfoy.

"Never mind…"

Draco, everyone's favorite super villain, did not deign to look into the compartment, refusing to acknowledge their presence, choosing instead to remain their "superior," in his own words.

"Oh, look everyone, the Ferret is choosing to be pompous," Harry remarked dryly, recalling the time that Crouch, pretending to be Moody, had transformed the weaselish boy into a type of rodent. Ah, good times, good times…

After a few giggles, everyone resigned themselves to their own activities, and the train ride passed by without incident.

* * *

But, alas, we can not simply go to the castle without discussing the happenings of our other group of heroes, or rather, ninjas from Konoha and Suna. 

We go now to do so.

They found that the only compartment they could all fit into, yes, all seven of them, was in the back, and occupied already by a girl, sitting in the corner with her head bent over a book.

And this is where we introduce our newest character, Meg Ryder.

Her raven colored hair fell down to the small of her back. It wasn't quite straight, but it wasn't curly, either—it was in the middle, wavy, one could call it. More like she didn't do anything with it except wash and brush it. She wore blue jeans, no shoes, which were in front of her chair, and sat criss-cross applesauce, Indian style, or cross-legged, however you wish to define it. She wore a black hoodie, which had Nirvana(1) written across it, perhaps she was American. (Although later we discover that she is not, in fact, American in any sense.)

As the group filed into the compartment, she looked up slowly. She had surprisingly warm brown eyes that contrasted strangely with her black hair and pale skin.

When they all merely stood there, she spoke. "You can sit down. I don't bite."

Naruto, who was of course, the most outgoing in the group, grinned and plopped down across from her. He held out a hand and said, "Hi! I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

She smiled, and took his hand, shaking it. "Meg Ryder."

Sakura sat down next to Naruto and said, "I'm Sakura Haruno." As the group introduced themselves, the found they didn't like the way their names rolled off their tongues…it seemed so backwards and barbaric. Nevertheless, they spoke this way. They had to fit in.

"Gaara Subaku." He sat next to her, as no one else had, and it was the only seat. Meg briefly glanced at the zany hair colors, such as pink and indigo. Of course, there were normal colors as well, like blonde and brown.

She found one boy's hairstyle, the one who had introduced himself as Shikamaru, a little odd. It appeared to be the leaves of a pineapple, preparing to leap from his head. Not a little odd, actually, very strange…Then there was the girl who looked like the American cartoonist Walt Disney's creation, Minnie Mouse. Tenten Ryuga. (A/N: She needed a last name for the mission. So now she is Ryuga.) The two buns on her head weren't particularly abnormal, but at the same time…

Even as Meg made these observations, she dismissed them as foolish. What did it matter that they liked strange hairstyles…and tattooing their foreheads? Two of the group had tattoos on their foreheads—Gaara Subaku and Neji Hyuga. The Hyuga's tattoo was an X with two lines on either side, whereas Subaku's was a symbol. Japanese, she noticed.

None of this really perturbed her in any manner, and she returned to reading her book, deciding she didn't particularly care about this group of people, or what they chose to do and talk about.

A couple minutes later, Subaku spoke. But she didn't understand what he said, he spoke in another language.

She decided to mind her own business and pretend she hadn't heard. _If only more people did that, these days._

Meanwhile, Gaara was informing everyone that he had found Harry and his group of friends, and that they were a couple of compartments up. Everyone was quite pleased by this development, and happily chatted…in Japanese. It wouldn't have been good to let the girl, Meg, hear, no matter how pleasant she seemed.

It wouldn't have been good…not at all…

* * *

And now, dear readers, we may embark on our thestral ride up to the castle. Now we find ourselves torn…shall we ride with Harry and his friends, or the ninjas and Meg? 

I think, at least that we shall begin with Meg and the ninjas.

"Weird horses," Naruto remarked, and the rest of the ninjas nodded in agreement.

"Thestrals," Meg informed him, "They're called thestrals. They're only visible to people who've seen death…"

"Can you see them?" Naruto, nosy as usual, asked.

Her head turned slowly to look at him. She nodded, and her head swiveled back to the carriage. She seemed to glide over to the carriage, and wordlessly, they followed. They all sat down, and the thestrals took them up to the castle.

Upon arrival, Professor McGonagall waved them over, with the exception of Meg, who continued to the Great Hall, her robes billowing slightly.

"Hello, Harry," She said coolly as she brushed by the black-haired boy.

"Meg."

She sat down a couple of seats from him, and looked up at the teachers. Surprisingly, all the seats, save McGonagall's, were filled. Madame Hooch patiently stood by a stool, holding a scroll and the sorting hat. Then, the doors were thrust open, and all the new first years entered the room. She also noticed that the seven older teens who had ridden the train with her walking with them. There was another boy as well, who couldn't be a first year, but he hung back, as though he didn't want to be noticed, especially by the other older students. His hair was even stranger—it resembled a chicken's butt, she thought. Or perhaps a cockatoo, if one wished to be pleasant.

Professor McGonagall was leading them all, and rushed up to her seat behind the table. She sat, and then nodded at Madame Hooch.

As she explained what the sorting ceremony was, Meg zoned out. Then she called the first name, and a shaking boy walked up to the stool, sat down, and the hat was placed on his head.

"_Hufflepuff!"_

Elder, Susana…

"_Ravenclaw!"_

Georgio, Lucy…

"_Slytherin!"_

Haruno, Sakura…

At this point, Meg began to pay attention. Previously, she had thought they were already sorted, and she simply hadn't known them before.

"_Gryffindor!"_

Like all the other Gryffindors, Meg leapt up and cheered.

Hyuga Hinata…

"_Gryffindor!"_

Hyuga Neji…

"_Ravenclaw!"_

The murmur that had begun when Sakura had been called increased now. People were confused. Why were these older students here and being sorted?

McGonagall stood. "Silence, please."

The murmurs died down, and she sat down.

Ignoramus, Don…

"_Hufflepuff!"_

Jordan, Laila…

"_Ravenclaw!"_

Nara, Shikamaru…

"_Ravenclaw!"_

Another older guy was sorted. Things were getting more interesting by the moment.

Ryuga, Tenten…

"_Ravenclaw!"_

Subaku, Gaara…

"_Gryffindor!"_

The redhead came and sat down next to her. She gave him a small smile, and he returned one. Sort of. Except his face seemed unable to hold the expression, and lapsed right as he was bringing the corners of his mouth back, resulting in an uncomfortable grimace.

Uchiha, Sasuke…

Before the boy with the gravity-defying hair could even get to the stool, there was a loud outburst.

"WHAT! TEME? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

Meg wasn't quite sure what 'Teme' meant, but it didn't sound very nice.

Sasuke put his head down, and walked faster to the stool.

The hat was placed on his head, and took no time in yelling _"Slytherin!" _Because, after all, it's the natural order of things for him to be in Slytherin.

Uzumaki, Naruto…

Forgetting his outburst briefly, and the reason, Naruto rushed up and sat on the stool, expectantly waiting for his house.

"_Gryffindor!"_

What is it with…er…hyper people and Gryffindor?

At the end of sorting, McGonagall stood up and briefly addressed everyone…the usual. Stay out of the Forrest, Filch will confiscate these items…blah, blah, blah.

Then she mentioned the teachers. Meg listened with interest, and found Professor Haku particularly interesting, considering he appeared to be a girl, but was quite obviously a boy. Well, perhaps not obvious. It was to her, though, perhaps because she tended to see, underneath the underneath…so to speak.

"You may have noticed the new students. This is part of an exchange program we are participating in with another school, one in Asia. There English isn't very good, so don't expect them to understand everything you say about the magical world. If they seem surprised by anything you do, magically that is, don't be rude about it. Their curriculum is quite a bit different than ours, and they will know things you don't, and vice versa. (And that was a run-on sentence, I believe) Understood? Good. Enjoy your feast!"

She sat down, and bowls of food appeared.

_An interesting start to a new year…_Meg thought to herself, before taking the mashed potatoes.

* * *

(1) Previously, this said 'Three Days Grace' but after a friend informed me that 3DG wasn't around in '99, i had to change it. (apparently, that's when this story takes place, according to Rowling.)

_Alright! Hopefully that was long enough._

_I'm not quite sure why I was writing like 'and now dear readers…' It was just how I was feeling…so… yeah._

_Hope you enjoyed! And if you did...or didn't...REVIEW! _

_And just so you know, I sacrificed time I could have spent watching the newest episode of Naruto to write this. And this is the ep. where Gaara comes back to life! ARGH!_

_Me's out!_

_GaaraRoxmySox_


	3. Tardiness and Sleeping

_Oops, I forgot to thank more than half the reviewers last time…I apologize. I'll do it now. Thanks to: Shukoru, Originalatorian,__suberXxXduperXxXfun machine__, Haku's No. 1 Girl, Sweet July, Multi Guy, Shashuko the Paisley Maiden, somebody, Shukoru (again), Kai (I responded at the end. You didn't give me anyway to answer you!), __suberXxXduperXxXfun machine__, Shashuko the Paisley Maiden, Favrite of Chaos, The Crazy Evil Akatsuki Neko, Mood-chan, Lavendar-lilly, Shrimps of Mass Destruction, sheenio, multi guy, and Kikyo Uchiha._

_There are a lot of y'all._

_Okay, a couple of people have mentioned that Ollivander is not dead, or at least he wasn't killed by Voldemort. You're right—in the books, this did not happen…I checked later, and I was like…oops. But, I have an excuse…I am Voldemort reincarnated…and I killed Ollivander. –Cackles evilly- So quit bringing it up. Or I'll kill you too…I'm serious._

_About my OC. If you dislike her because she's so aloof, or if you think she's…well, female doggish from other's points of view, deal with it. There are plenty of reasons for this, which we'll get to later. 'K? Thanks.  
_

* * *

After the feast, everyone headed to their houses.

"First-years follow me, please!" the head boy, who was, once again, in Gryffindor. First-years dutifully lined up. Someone tapped Meg's shoulder, and she turned to look at whoever it was.

"Ummm…Could y-you t-take me t-to where I need to g-go?" It was Hinata, the shy girl from the train.

Meg nodded, and said, "Come on."

Hinata dutifully followed behind her. Her so-called friends who had been sorted into Gryffindor had already run off with Harry and his friends.

Except for Gaara. He was calmly walking towards the teacher's table, towards the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher.

Whatever, was Meg's only thought.

Hinata caught up and walked next to Meg when there was more room. They soon caught up to the first-years, and walked behind them. They arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password?"

The Head Boy, whom I should mention was not Ron, spoke. "Embers."

The Fat Lady nodded, and her portrait swung open. Due to the number of 'Little Ones' they had to wait a while. Finally, they were able to get into the common room.

"Here, I'll help you find your room." Meg led Hinata up the stairs before the First-years would crowd the walkway, as the Head Boy was explaining what was happening—where they were going and such.

They walked up the stairs and down a hallway. Meg glanced at the names on the doors as they passed, also looking for her own.

"Oh, here it is. How lucky. We're rooming together."

She opened the door, and stepped aside, letting the indigo-haired girl enter first. Sakura, Hermione, and Ginny were already in the room, and had claimed beds. There were two unoccupied beds on the left side of the room. Meg took the one to the very far left, farthest away from everyone else. Hinata took the other one, sitting down self-consciously. Hermione and Ginny were talking animatedly to Sakura and she was nodding happily. Meg rolled her eyes, and pulled out some ear plugs, sticking them into her ears. She calmly walked to her trunk in front of her bed, pulling out a quill, a piece of parchment, and a book to write on.

She started to write:

_Mum,  
The school year has started again, and all the new teachers are here. Hagrid left for Romania, to study dragons. It's always been his dream…He told me last year, when Harry and his friends were off fighting the dark lord. I guess…we both needed a friend. Even his post was filled. They all look Asian, just like the exchange students.  
Oh, right. The exchange students. They seem okay, I guess. Hinata is really nice, but she's really shy.  
I guess we'll see about them.  
I miss you mum. I miss you so much.  
All my love…_

She didn't sign her name; the letter wouldn't be postmarked, there was no point. It was just a habit she had picked up, writing to her late mum, and then burning the letter. It helped ease the pain of loneliness that had started in her fifth year. She had gone home to visit her parents over Christmas vacation, and had found her mother dying in the hospital because she'd had a heart attack. She was recovering, but then she had another one, while she was still in St. Mungo's, and had…gone. Meg had been there, holding her hand, and her father was holding her mum's other hand. The last things she had said…

"_Meg and Tom, please believe Harry. I know he's back—Voldemort. And never be afraid to say his name… Darlings, always know that I love you…"_

Her brain shut down, refusing to relive the horrid moments of her mother's final heart attack. When she had returned to school, she had been withdrawn, and depressed. Unfortunately, she had been in Harry's way at the wrong time, or rather, she had been on the receiving end of one of his tantrums. They had had quite a row, and since then, they had been cold to each other. She shook her head, clearing it of the memory, and then waved her wand at the parchment, causing it to burst into flame.

Hinata jumped. Meg gave her a small smile. Hinata looked so uncomfortable and lonely, lonelier than she had ever felt, and so she wanted to help her.

"Where are you from, Hinata?"

"J-Japan."

"I thought so. Gaara's tattoo is Japanese, right? What's it mean?"

"It's 'ai', or l-love." For a second, she hesitated, and then decided to question Meg in return. "What about you? Where are you from? America?"

Meg noted that as Hinata relaxed, her stutter vanished. "No. I was born and raised here. I have a cousin who lives in Alberta and one who lives in Pennsylvania. They're muggles, and their parents, who're also muggles, have never seen fit to tell them that they have a wizard for a brother. My mum was an only child, from a family of magic. Her family tree goes way back. Grand-da was a bit disappointed when she married what he called a 'mud-blood'--that's what he'd call my dad. Actually, her first husband died. He was a muggle, supposedly...We don't go see my grandparents on her side, anymore."

Hinata was hesitant, but asked anyway. "Why not?"

"They disliked the fact that mum married a muggle. They disowned her, even...her second marriage, to a mud-blood, didn't help. But the main reason is because my mum died from a heart attack. She was really young for it to happen, but…it did." Meg sighed, and turned away.

"I'm sorry…I…never knew my mother, and my father never liked me too much."

"Why?"

"I…wasn't very talented. He always favored my little sister Hanabi, and lately, even my cousin, Neji."

"Talented? As a witch?"

"Yes…Something like that."

Sakura chose this time to barge into the conversation. "Hinata! She probably wouldn't understand Japanese life!" There was a look in her eyes that told Hinata to just shut up.

Thus, Meg got a little pissed off. But, she remained silent.

Hinata lowered her head, and her long, indigo hair fell into her face. "S-sorry."

She looked back up, and Meg suddenly noticed that Hinata looked a lot like her. True enough, her hair wasn't inky blue, but it was inky in its own way. Their eyes matched in size and shape, though not color…white and brown don't exactly compare. Hinata's skin was snow white, just like her own.

They might have been twins…miscolored twins.

"Hinata, can I fix your hair? With hair that length, you'll get a bed head. I know from experience." Meg smiled reassuringly.

Hinata flushed slightly. "Umm…Okay."

Hinata crossed the room and sat on Meg's bed. As she pulled a brush through Hinata's silky hair, she felt the first stirrings of friendship and happiness.

"So how old are you, Hinata? Seventeen?" Hinata nodded. "I'm eighteen. Can you believe I'm the only mistake Hogwarts has ever made? Somehow, I didn't get my acceptance letter until I was twelve...

The next morning, Gaara sat in the common room, reading over his schedule. Hinata and Meg walked down the stairs quietly. They didn't talk much, but he could see the bond between them. It seemed that Meg had changed a lot since the night before, and really opened up to Hinata.

"Hey."

"Hey, Gaara," Meg said with a small smile. She pulled out her own schedule. "Let's compare them, Hinata."

Wordlessly, Hinata handed hers over. Meg scanned the paper. "Oh, good. We have Potions, Defense against the Dark Arts, and Care of Magical Creatures together!"

"Where's N-naruto, Gaara?" Hinata asked shyly.

"Sleeping in. He says since Kakashi is teaching Potions, he can be late."

"Th-that's probably true…" Hinata admitted.

Gaara nodded. "I'll be late, too."

Meg raised an eyebrow. "You mean Professor Hatake? Do you guys know him or something?"

"Actually, we know all of them," Hinata explained.

Gaara raised the patch of skin where his eyebrow should have been, but was for some reason truant. He couldn't help but notice how at ease Hinata was with Meg. He figured it was a good thing. Hinata was a great person, if a little self-conscious. Actually, it was because of that that she was so kind. She was always forgiving—she had been the first to forgive him, he now knew, for what he had been before. He hadn't known then, because she wasn't exactly and open book. Nor was she secretive, but she was so shy that she never stood up for anything—except Naruto.

Of course, this was to be expected. Naruto was her true love—even he knew this, though Naruto remained blissfully unaware, obsessed with Sakura.

But, back to Hinata and Meg—he knew that their friendship would be a good thing, for Hinata was glowing with excitement, talking with Meg about their classes.

It was also good for Meg, he mused. She was different from the girl they had met on the train, he thought again. She was opening, smiling with Hinata.

They needed each other.

Meg offered Hinata her arm. "Let's go get something to eat. You can come, too, Gaara."

"No, I'll just—"

"Oh, come on," Hinata begged, surprising them all, least of all herself. She shrugged. "You'll be all lonely up here. Come with us." She smiled.

"Yeah! Come on, Gaara!" Meg smiled at him prettily, begging him with her eyes.

He stared, a little surprised at the drastic change he was seeing. He sighed. "Okay."

As they walked in silence, just enjoying each other's company, Gaara noticed that Meg was zoning out. Who knew what she was thinking about…Not he, but he saw the look of misery that reappeared on her face. She looked down, but her steps remained unaltered. He didn't say anything, nor did Hinata, though she noticed as well.

When they arrived at the Great Hall, they walked to the Gryffindor table and sat down. Sakura was already there with Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. She was taking the mission seriously, he supposed, since she wasn't mooning over Sasuke. She was talking to them casually, and after a few minutes, Naruto came down and joined the other five. He noticed that Hinata was unable to take her eyes off Naruto. Naturally. It didn't bug him, because he had never liked Hinata in any other way than as a sister.

But then, it did bug him, because with this brotherly feeling, he hated seeing Naruto hurt her everyday by not seeing her as anything other than a friend.

It irked him.

But there wasn't much he could do about it, other then spelling out for him, which he wouldn't do to Hinata.

"Hina, you gotta crush?" The teasing words came from Meg.

Hinata flushed and meeped. Like this: "Meep!"

Meg grinned, but didn't say anything else.

Gaara decided to push her back for Hinata. "Who do _you _like, Meg?"

She looked at him seriously, and said, "The boogeyman."

Hinata started to giggle, and he couldn't help but chuckle. She frowned. "Why are you laughing at me? I'm serious."

"…Right."

She let her mask slip and laughed along with them.

* * *

They had gone back to the common room after breakfast, although most students headed to class. They didn't bother to, yet, because they knew Kakashi would be late. Meg had gone to her room, and brought out her book.

Hinata asked a question Gaara had been wondering about himself. "Why are you the only one reading a book? Other than a textbook?"

Meg glanced up, and seemed to ponder this question. "They're sort of…taboo, I guess. Wizards find muggle books a waste of time. A book written for entertainment? Ridiculous. Why waste paper on that? Especially when one could be learning how to…I don't know, breed pigmy puffs."

They stared at her blankly. "Pigmy…puffs?"

"They're kind of like…hamsters, I think."

They feigned understanding. After awhile, Hinata stood. "Let's go. He might decide to be on time, for once."

Gaara and Meg nodded, and stood, following Hinata out the portrait hole.

"C'mon. I'll show you where it is." Meg led them down the hall, down many staircases, to the dungeons of the school. "Here we are."

They opened the door and walked in. Sure enough, Kakashi wasn't there. A lot of people were talking, including Sasuke and Draco Malfoy. Naruto and a couple other people were sleeping. Hermione was glancing through the potions book. Ginny was casually talking to Harry about the Hogsmeade trip, and how they should 'spend time together', hint, hint. They all sat down at a table in the back. At this point, Kakashi ninja poofed into the room.

His face was buried in a book. "Open your books...do the first exercise." Everyone stared at him blankly, but nevertheless, did as they were told. When it became apparent he wasn't going to do anything but read, everyone but Hermione and Sakura, who were working feverishly on the potion...because they cared, returned to what they had been doing. Meg laid her head down and went to sleep.

Welcome to high school...apparently wizards/witches have the same problems we do...sleeping in class, not caring about work...good times, good times...

* * *

_I__ chose for her mother to die from a heart attack because that was the way my aunt died. She was also very young. I've never really gotten over it, just like Meg. Unlike Meg, I didn't totally withdraw myself. My aunt and I weren't close, but I loved her very much, and I feel like my biggest shortcoming in my life was not expressing that love well enough. Another part of that is that I don't feel like I knew her very well, so it made me really miserable for a long time. I doubt that any of my friends even knew that I was sad; I hid it well. I guess I'm kind of like Naruto, in that respect. I would cover up my sadness with a smile and I never cried._

_So there you go—my deepest secret out on the internet. Weird. Well…not my deepest secret. Ha, definitely not telling that one. lol_

_Okay. If you think Hinata is OoC, I'm sorry. This is a story where everyone, sorry to use a cliché, 'finds themselves'. Please don't be upset. This is just how I see Meg and Hinata. If you think it's going to fast, sorry. This story isn't going to be 40 plus chapters or anything, I'm hoping it will be more like 20. So it really isn't. Going fast, I mean._

_And I got bored. So I ended it here. _

* * *

_Kai: Hi. I'm always glad to accept constructive criticism; it helps me improve. –smiles- Okay. Let me try to explain: I didn't include the whole conversation between McGonagall and Kabuto. There was a bit of convincing, but I didn't think it was that interesting, so I cut it out. However, I may go back and change this, if it causes very much confusion. About Naruto's reaction to Sasuke, remember, Tsunade already sort of told everyone they would see someone they knew, and although he didn't acknowledge this very well, it was at the back of his mind. Also, please remember, Naruto has, like, ADHD, so when his name was called, he totally forgot about Sasuke. Everyone else was a lot calmer, first because they are calmer, and they did remember Tsunade's warning. Kakashi may have known that Sasuke was going to be there, because…he's Kakashi, and he knows all. I think we'll get to the other's reaction, such as Sakura's mental struggle, and Gaara's impassiveness._

_I hope that clears it up a bit for you._


	4. Ms Haku! Or is it Mr?

_Okay, now that everyone knows about the name change._

_My darling flash drive, Timothy was mutilated yesterday, when he was vacuumed. –sobs uncontrollably- _

_Beyond that, I have a new love, and it's name is 'Switchfoot'. I'm, like, listening to it currently._

_Thanks to: Kai, Shashuko the Paisley Maiden, __suberXxXduperXxXfun machine__, Shrimps of Mass Destruction, Shukoru, Kina Lupi, Kikyo Uchiha, Sheenio, and natsi.._

_Back to the story. I realized I've been neglecting Harry and his friends…even painting a bad portrait of them. Oops. Anyway, this chapter will be as seen by them. Sort of._

* * *

At the end of the class, the only ones who had finished the potion were Hermione and Sakura. Harry was a bit surprised how smart Sakura was—she had almost finished before Hermione.

That was unheard of.

"So…You like school so far, Sakura?" Harry asked.

"Oh, it's great. We never got to do potions back home! It's so fun," she gushed, her cheeks pink. "I mean, I've mixed medicines, but I don't have to do it often. My favorite thing to do is find antidotes."

This led to a long discussion between Sakura and Hermione about which was better—antidotes, or transformation potions, like Polyjuice. Sakura favored antidotes, Hermione, the Polyjuice.

Finally, Sakura burst out. "But you don't need transformation potions! There's a perfectly good jut-" Naruto popped out of no where and covered her mouth.

"Uh, hahahaha, we'll be right back." Naruto dragged Sakura over to the side and talked to her sternly.

(And this is what he said…Harry didn't hear, thankfully)

"Sakura! Are you crazy? Telling them about jutsus? You'll blow our cover. Be careful."

"This, coming from you," Sakura muttered exasperatedly.

Naruto glared at her.

"Okay, okay. I'll be careful." She walked back over to the four teenagers.

"So, where are we going?" she asked.

"Professor Haku's class—Defense against the Dark Arts."

"Cool. Oh, and by the way—Haku is a guy. Whatever you do, don't say 'Yes, Ma'am'," Sakura explained.

They looked at her briefly and started laughing. "That's kind of mean, Sakura," Hermione pointed out, "Claiming that she's a boy."

She shook her head. "Your problem, not mine. Enjoy his vengeance."

"HEY GUYS!" Naruto was back. He seemed to like yelling, quite a bit.

"Naruto, isn't Haku a guy?"

"Yeah. Don't call him a chick, he might kill you."

-Insert crickets chirping-

"Kill us?"

"Yep. It doesn't happen often, but every once in awhile, he gets so mad, and he'll at least seriously injure you." Naruto said all this with a shrug. Then he added, "Trust me…I know."

"Look, you don't believe us, fine. But seriously, don't imply that he's female. If you're uncomfortable with that, don't imply that he's male, either. Just say 'yes,' instead of 'yes, sir/ma'am.' Easiest way to do it."

"That's bogie," Ron said, shaking his head. Harry burst out laughing, and they all went to class.

"Oi, Gaara! Sit with us!" Naruto yelled.

Gaara rolled his eyes. He was sitting at his own table, Meg and Hinata, who was looking down and blushing, were at the table next to him.

Then Haku was behind Naruto. "Mr. Uzumaki…I don't tolerate yelling in my classroom…Shut up and sit down."

Naruto frowned, and sat down at a table next to Sakura. Hermione and Ginny sat at the table next to her, and Harry and Ron sat in front of them.

Harry was intrigued by the classroom. It had changed a lot since his last year. There were these thick mirrors everywhere, and masks on the wall, with four squiggly lines on the forehead. It was definitely…different.

Professor Haku herself was interesting. (A/N: Although, if Naruto and Sakura were correct about Haku, it was 'himself.' Moving on.) She (or he) calmly waited for everyone to sit down.

Looking at 'her', Harry decided that whether or not he would learn anything in this class was unlikely.

Not that he was cocky or anything, he just reasoned, (rather understandably) that if he could defeat Voldemort, he could defeat anything.

* * *

Haku stood in the center of the room, looking at the students. Several of the male students were staring at him a little too closely. As usual, he felt that vague feeling of discomfort, but brushed it off. He'd set them straight later.

He spoke at last. "My name is Professor Haku. You may think I'm unable to teach you anything," he said, looking directly at Harry, who colored slightly "Or that you're safe now that the Dark Lord is dead.

"You're wrong. I don't care who you've faced, I don't care how well associated you were with the Dark Lord." Here, his eyes rested on Draco. (A/N: To me, he's Draco, not Malfoy. Sorry, Charlie)

"I've seen worse. I've _performed_ worse. And I can teach you to defend against it." He looked at them calmly. "And lastly…we're not out of the woods yet…" He let the ominous words hang, calmly taking in the now attentive faces.

Hermione tentatively raised her hand.

"Ms. Granger?"

"Professor, we don't have a book selection for this class."

"I know."

"Why?"

"This class will be a bit more…active. Textbooks are dry and confusing. And so, I will explain to you in a way that hopefully you'll understand. If not…well, then. Too bad for you. Now, for today—"

Usagi chose this point to burst into the room. "Hey, Haku-kun. Ha, that sounds funny. Anyway, I was wondering, could I borrow Mr. Subaku and Mr. Uzumaki?"

Haku nodded. "I guess so."

She flashed him a gorgeous smile, and his stomach flipped over. _What the mess?_

"Thankies! C'mon, Gaara-kun, Naruto-kun!" They followed her out of the room.

"Why does she say '-kun'?" Harry asked.

"It's our culture," Sakura explained. "It's a term of endearment for boys. '-Chan' is a term of endearment for girls."

"Ahh, I see—"

"Ms. Haruno, Mr. Potter. Care to share your conversation with the rest of the class?"

Sakura quirked an eyebrow. "Sure. I was just explaining why Professor Thuuran was calling you, Naruto, and Gaara '-kun'."

Haku frowned, knowing he couldn't intimidate her. He sighed. "Just don't let it happen again, Sakura…-chan. Today we'll be learning about..." (A/N: lacking creative energy...and the classes aren't that important. So he's explaining...whatever he's teaching them about.)

* * *

Sasuke smirked. Draco was so gullible. He would certainly enjoy this...

His snake, whom he had finally named Zenaku, meaning good and evil, raised herself up, and let him know she was there with a flick of her tongue against his ear. (A/N: congrats to Shrimps of Mass Destruction! It took some effort (my brain hurts) but I couldn't resist the name...Zenaku...come on... You gotta admit, it pretty much rocks)

_What's happening? You radiate...anticipation and excitement...and also hilarity_.

"You'll see..." he murmured, softly enough that no one would hear him.

"Excuse me, Ms. Haku?" Draco said, raising his head. He had a confident smirk on his face.

Haku's eyes narrowed, and he looked at Sasuke's smirking face.

Looks like Sasu-kun's up to something...

Surprisingly, he decided to play along. "Yes, Monsieur Malfoy?" He leaned against a mirror.

Draco grinned. "So...are you doing anything on Friday?"

Haku was repulsed. He allowed himself to be pulled into the mirror, and reappeared at the other side of the room, right behind Draco.

"Are you gay, Mr. Malfoy?" he breathed on Malfoy's neck.

Sasuke's only thought was that he wished Naruto were here to see this...

Draco jumped and turned around. "No..."

"Then why are you hitting on me?"

Draco flushed. "Wh-what?"

Haku smirked. "The correct title, Mr. Malfoy, is Mr. Haku. Preferably, professor Haku. Any more questions, class?"

The class had dissolved into giggles, but for Hermione, who's mouth hung agape. "H-how did you get over there? You can't apparate in Hogwarts! I read it in--"

"Hogwarts, a History," Harry and Ron finished for her. This resulted in more laughter.

Zenaku whispered, _Ah...I see._

"What an idiot..." Sasuke whispered back.

_The look on his face was rather funny_. Zenaku replied.

It was true. Draco, pale as his skin was, had turned redder than my best friend's hair...But you don't know my best friend. Oh well. Really red. Strawberry or Tomato? Yeah.

"As for your question, Ms. Granger, that wasn't apparating. I just did something only my family can do. And I'm the last of them."

"What's that?" she asked. Her expression was innocently curious.

"...That's classified," he said simply.

Usagi, Naruto, and Gaara returned to the room. Sakura tried to catch Naruto's eyes, attempting to see what Usagi had said, but he refused to look at her. His eyes were lowered.

* * *

(What Usagi said...)

The friendly sparkle in her eyes was gone, replaced by a hard glint. "I'm sorry to tell you this, guys...but I think we're getting too attached to the ones we're here to protect."

Gaara glanced at her in surprise. "I understand, but what does this have to do with me?"

Usagi sighed. "You and Hinata...are too close to Meg Ryder. We're not even assigned to protect her."

Gaara felt his rage growing--not really because he couldn't hang out with Meg, or even that Hinata would be unable to hang with her best friend.

Because Usagi was ORDERING him to do it. Subaku no Gaara, the Kazekage--she saw fit to order him around?

Funny...he hadn't had a tantrum since...he was 13. Probably. His eyes narrowed. "...No."

Usagi looked miffed. "Excuse me?"

"No. What right do you have to tell us that? You aren't team leader."

"No, but neither are you!" Her voice was frustrated.

"Maybe, but I am still in charge of you," he snapped, his voice quiet, but firm. "And Temari. Don't question my judgement."

Usagi's face clouded over. She glanced at Naruto. He sighed. "Gaara's right--you can't order him around. But I'll try to put distance between myself and Harry. We won't be friends any more. Just...associates. Aquaintances." His voice was sad.

Usagi nodded. "That's all I can ask." She glanced at Gaara. Anger still radiated from him, but his face and eyes were expressionless. She frowned. "I'm...I'm sorrry Gaara. You're right--it wasn't my place."

Gaara's eyes softened. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have snapped at you." But he didn't take back what he'd said.

There was no way he was going to throw away a friend, or ask Hinata to.

Usagi seemed to acknowledge this.

She cleared her throat. "That's all I had to say."

They returned to the room

* * *

At the end of the period, as she walked out of the door, Sakura felt someone grab her shoulder. "Sakura..." a voice said, "Walk with me."

Though his voice had matured and deepened, it was undeniably him.

Sasuke.

Her stomach churned as he fell into step beside her. He didn't speak for a moment, and thus, left her to her thoughts.

_When they called his name...when I heard it...when I saw HIM..._

_Oh, man. This pretty much...sucks._

He interrupted her reverie. "How's Konoha?"

She turned her cold green eyes to his carbon-colored ones. (A/N: cuz onyx is overused.) "Better. Than. Ever." She dragged out her words.

He raised an eyebrow and didn't respond. Instead, he asked, "I'm surprised you got sent on this mission--I heard only the elite were going."

This succeeded in pissing Sakura off more. She was so mad, she turned an punched a whole in the wall. "Reparo..." she muttered, flicking her wand at the rubble.

Sasuke stared at her in new found respect as the anger seethed from her eyes.

"Elite? ELITE? I happen to be the apprentice of the Hokage, rank of Jounin. A lot has changed since you left, Sasuke. One thing being me. I don't need your approval. I don't need to focus on impressing you. I don't even think about you! So get out of my face.

"I'm not useless! You have no idea...how long I have wanted to say that to you..." She stormed off.

And for once, the equation had a converse. (A/N: Geometry term--means you turned the statement around.)

Sasuke admired Sakura.

And not vice versa.

* * *

_I think here is a good stopping place. I have updated most of my stories recently, (Big accomplishment!) save for the one that I'm not writing._

_I do not want to hear anyone whine about how OoC Sasuke is. _

_He's not. Although Sasuke appears to be a log/ice cube/cockatoo, he is human, and thus has human feelings--admiration, cockiness, and finding funniness in the most uncomfortable situation._

_OH...I hope you all enjoyed the little scene between Draco and Haku. Tehehe. That was fun to write._

_That's all I have to say..._

_IBG out!_


	5. Reactions

* * *

Hey everyone

_Hey everyone! It's your favorite neighborhood band geek!_

_Wow, lovin' that line. I want to confess—Spiderman is my hero. Teehee. Yah gotta love 'im. _

_I'm considering deleting my two oneshots from the site. What do you guys think? Cuz if someone really likes them, I'll keep 'em, but I don't like them…sooo…_

_Thanks to: __**Shashuko the Paisley Maiden**__, __**Kina Lupi**__, __**multi guy**__, __**ellabell**__, __**kireihana35**__, __**Shrimps of Mass Destruction**__, __**Originlatatorian**__, __**Not a member**__ (ha, I'm taking Geometry right now, too. I hate it as well. Converses are the easy part, though. Wait 'til you get to proofs) __**Haku's No. 1 Girl**__, __**craziness101**__, and __**Nairo Xana and Jemmi**__. _

_So glad you all liked it. On the other hand, I take this time to thank __**Flame Rising**__, who flamed me__**. **__I really appreciate it. I actually do, cuz it made me think about it, and I think I'll start rereading my stuff more carefully. So thanks. At first, I was very offended, but most of all, pissed off, but now, I've thought about, and decided to just get over it and use it to my advantage. Although, you just attacked…you really didn't give me anything to build on. Oh, well. (As a side note, thanks to __**multi guy**__ and __**Zakuro17**__ for making me feel better.)_

_

* * *

Harry had grown quite fond of this year. His Potions class was easy, and he could spend the whole time 'talking' with Ginny. He was actually learning from Professor Haku, and Malfoy made the class all the more enjoyable, with his snide insults that Haku easily sent back to him. Charms and Herbology were interesting as usual, and with Sakura helping him with homework, he was excelling in his classes. The Transfiguration teacher was a little loopy, but he didn't mind her so much, as she mainly picked on Naruto._

Best of all, Malfoy was the laughingstock of their year, for reasons quite obvious.

Furthermore, the first Hogsmeade trip was coming up, along with Quidditch tryouts. He couldn't wait. Hogsmeade itself would be enjoyable, what with Ginny being there. Quidditch was the best thing since sliced cheese, so of course he was excited about it. Ginny was the captain this year, but she seemed content to be chaser, as though she had known Harry would go for seeker.

Which she had, by the way.

Yes…life was going great.

* * *

For Harry, anyway.

For a certain pink-haired shinobi, life had taken an unexpected turn. With the appearance of Sasuke, and their little chat, she had grown withdrawn. Ginny and Hermione were concerned about her, and Naruto knew what was wrong with her.

They asked her if she wanted to talk about it. She said no.

Surprisingly, the one she told was none other than Draco Malfoy.

She had found him, hiding in the library, hoping no one would notice him. She had, and had walked over to talk to him.

"Hey, Draco," she said.

"Hello, Haruno." His voice was sad.

She gave him a lilting smile. "You know, everyone else thought Haku was a girl, too. When I first met him, along with Naruto, Kakashi, and…Sasuke," she paused, overwhelmed again. "We all thought he was a girl."

Draco's eyes were surprised. "I'm not the only one?"

She smiled. "Nah."

His face lit up. Then his countenance fell. "Why are you here? To mock me? Shouldn't you be hanging out with Granger and Weasley?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Of course not. I'm here because I could tell you were absolutely miserable."

He remained cynical. "Sure." He paused, than looked closer at her face. "You're not exactly happy, either," he pointed out.

She sighed, and glanced out the window. "No," she admitted.

"What's wrong with you?"

Sakura was a bit surprised. Ginny and Hermione had told her Draco didn't care much about others.

He saw her look. "What? Ever since what I've come to call 'The Incident' occurred, I've been a little more understanding of others…and since dad…well, you know."

She sighed. "I guess it all involves Sasuke…"

"You don't like him, or you do?"

"That's the issue. We went to…grade school together, and every girl, except for Hinata, of course, had a crush on him. After we graduated and went on to…" she struggled to find the correct word for the wizarding world.

Luckily, Draco thought she just didn't know the English word, and helped her out. "Wizarding school?"

"Yes! Anyway, Naruto, Sasuke, and I were on a team, sort of like your houses here, but with only three people. After a year, he left…to go to another wizarding school, I guess. The…headmaster…didn't want him to go. She forbade him to go." Tears rolled down her face. "I tried to stop him. I told him I loved him." She furiously wiped away tears. "But…he said…he said…'You're annoying.' He…knocked me out, or something, and left…" She gave up and let the tears run down her face.

"And now, you aren't sure if you like him or not," he finished for her.

She nodded blindly. Draco leaned towards her and wiped away the tears wetting her face. "Sakura," he said softly, "No man is worth your tears. The one who is will never make you cry."

She chuckled. "That was awfully feminist, Draco." (And corny)

He laughed with her. "But it's true."

She wiped her eyes for the last time. "…Thank you, Draco."

He smiled. "Sure." He paused, and then continued, "You're the only one who calls me that."

"Is that bad?" she said, mirth shining in her eyes.

"No…I…I like it." He smiled. "I should go. See you later?"

She returned the smile. "Of course."

On second thought, life was going okay for Sakura, too.

* * *

Meg was lying on her bed, tossing a cricket ball up and down. It was Saturday, so she didn't have any classes, and she was bored.

Hinata walked into the room, wearing one of Meg's t-shirts and some baggy blue jeans. REALLY baggy—apparently she didn't feel comfortable otherwise.

"Wanna play cricket?" Meg asked.

"Cricket?" Hinata asked, tilting her head.

"Yeah. Kinda like baseball."

"I've…never played baseball."

"Yet you live in Japan?"

"Uh…I don't know…baseball wasn't ever my thing."

"Come on! It's fun. I'll teach you how... Please?"

Hinata sighed. "Okay."

Meg's face lit up. "Yay!" She jumped off the bed, and grabbed a bat from her trunk.

Meg and Hinata ran out to the field behind the school.

"You want to swing first, Hina?" Meg called. Ginny, Hermione, and Sakura came out of the castle, laughing loudly. They paused to watch them play.

"Um, okay." Hesitantly, Hinata picked up the bat. Meg bowled the ball towards her, and Hinata managed a cover drive. "Now what?" she called, as the ball sailed through the air, fast and hard. Ginny nodded appreciatively.

"I don't know...we don't have enough people for you go for a run. Let's just get the ball, and then switch positions." Meg ran off to retrieve the ball.

Hinata mimicked Meg's previous movements, and bowled the ball to Meg. Meg swung the bat, and with the crack of the ball hitting bat, she pulled off a straight drive.

Ginny ran out to where they were playing. "That was FANTASTIC! You would both make excellent beaters! Promise me you'll try out?"

Hinata stared at her in confusion. She played her part well—"Excuse me, but, what does 'beater' mean? I'm not sure we learned that word."

"Oh! Silly me. Quidditch, of course! You have to try out. Maybe Meg can explain?"

"Beaters are a position on the Quidditch team; you know, the sport you play on broomsticks."

Hinata feigned understanding with a nod.

Meg continued, "They hit the bludgers--that's one type of ball--towards other players, with bats. She's probably complementing your cover drive. Which was excellent, by the way."

"Your hit was great as well, though I don't know all the terminology." Ginny's eyes were shining with excitement. (A/N: If you didn't understand any of that terminology, either, go to wikipedia . org, and search cricket (sport). That's where I learned about it. Haha!)

Meg nodded. "Straight drive."

"Please try out?"

Meg and Hinata exchanged a look.

Meg's said _I will if you will._

Hinata shrugged and nodded.

"We'll do it."

"Great!" Ginny ran back to Hermione and Sakura.

Suddenly, Hinata noticed a flaw in the plan. "Ummm, Meg?"

"Hmmm?" Meg was picking up the bat and ball.

"Well…I wasn't ever really into sports," Hinata explained, "So I don't know how to ride a broom…" At least not sports you'd understand, she thought.

"Oh, it's easy! Let's go tell Ginny that you don't have a broom, but we want to practice. She'll let us use the team broomsticks."

"Uhh…okay."

They ran back into the castle, to put away Meg's sports equipment, and then began searching for Ginny.

* * *

Haku was sitting in his office, briefly reading over his lesson plan for the next day. The clock on the wall was starting to irritate him.

_Tick, tick, tick, tick._

For once, he decided to just lose his time. He threw senbon needles at the clock.

As the needles pierced the plastic covering the face, and struck the face, the clock stopped mid-tick.

Sweet relief, he thought.

Usagi suddenly burst into the office, fake smile in place.

"Thanks for knocking," he said dryly.

She shrugged. "Sorry."

He rolled his eyes. "Can I help you?"

"Ummm…not really. Just needed to talk to someone."

"Why not Temari? Aren't you like best friends?"

"Well, if you don't want me to—"

"Not what I meant. Please, sit."

She grinned, a real smile, and plopped down into the seat in front of his desk. It was purposely placed to make the person seated there feel smaller than the person seated behind the desk. Not his choice, but oh, well. "I feel like I'm in trouble again," she said with a chuckle.

"Trouble? Perfect Usagi? Never."

"Ha, ha. For your information, I used to get in trouble all the time with…" Her voice trailed off.

He knew, of course, who she was talking about. "Juugo."

She nodded sadly.

Juugo had been her best friend. She was the only one…the only one who could stand to be around him.

That was before.

Before Orochimaru.

Before Juugo had sacrificed himself to bring Haku back.

And because of that very fact, Haku knew she resented him, slightly.

Well…not slightly. Completely.

"You have no idea," she whispered. "You have no idea what it's like to lose your best friend. YOU HAVE NO IDEA!"

"No, of course not," he said sarcastically. "Because the only friend I ever had was Zabuza, and he couldn't have been my best friend. Maybe I died before him. That doesn't matter—when I came back, it didn't make him any less lost to me."

They were both trembling with anger—Haku was so frustrated with this. It wasn't like he asked Juugo to bring him back! Usagi was just using him as a scapegoat.

"The truth is, Usagi-chan, YOU have no idea what it's like to know that someone sacrificed himself for you.

"And you didn't want it. You didn't want anyone else to die on your account. You, you are the one who doesn't know."

_The way of the shinobi is very hard for me…_

Her lips tightened, and she stormed from the room.

* * *

_Okay, peeps. This is the deal. Really—only replying to reviews with questions. Seriously._

_Anyway, I'm going through and 'I hate Sasuke' phase, and I'm considering changing the story to DracoXSakura. My question is, should I do this, or keep it as a SasuSaku? And I do get more votes for SasuSaku, know that it will be a DracoSakuSasu. Draco and Sakura are going out at some point—that much I promise._

_Next question: Do you prefer Mario or Sonic? I don't know why I'm asking this, but I really want to know. Personally, I favor Mario._

_I had one more question, but I'm not sure what it was. Oops._

_Okay, I want to mention, yes, Juugo is a real character; no, he did not bring Haku back to life in the anime. This is my own little twist._

_I just think that Juugo is the coolest guy on Naruto. Except for Gaara, but everyone knows that. XD _

_Read and Review!_

_IBG out!_

_P.S. check out the Vanilla Sky version of Umbrella, by Rihanna, on youtube. It's better. IMO, anyway._


	6. Too Many Crushes

* * *

UGH! My italics won't work. Sorry.

I meant to mention this last time, read Dumbledore's Journey, and Kamikaze, stories by my very good friend, **multi guy**. (If anyone else has a story they'd like me to advertise, it's three million dollars. (I will accept cookies!) :)

Thanks for reviewing: **multi guy**,** The Crazy Evil Akatsuki Neko**,** kina lupi**,** Shashuko the Paisley Maiden**,** Shrimps of Mass Destruction**, **Evelyn627**,** Shukoru**,** Fire Girl**, and **Haku's No. 1 Girl**.

Did I mention how incredibly happy I am about having Chet, my flash drive? Well, allow me to explain: We have 3 computers at my house, but only 2 have Internet. I have to work on the one without Internet, so I can't save it on My Documents—that's not easy to carry. I needed a drive, and look! CHET, my flash drive was born!

Anyway, the votes say: DracoXSakura. Only one person was like: that's creepy. I hope none of you were reading this strictly for SasuSaku, and if you were, I hope you'll keep reading. My friend has suggested that I incorporate Karin into the story, so Sasuke won't be dateless. But if that happens, Sai will be there, cuz he's one of my new favorite characters—still not better than Gaara, Haku, or even Juugo. Haha! Anyway, I'm having another poll, but this is getting long. So when you review, be sure to read the bottom AN, okay?

* * *

It was time for Quidditch tryouts.

Ginny was standing at the side of the field, clipboard in hand, and broomstick at side. The hopefuls stood in front of her.

Among them were Harry, Ron, Naruto, Hinata, and Meg. She smiled at them.

(Naruto had told Sakura his reason for trying out was to make sure that Harry and Ron were safe—two shinobi were better than one, after all. Sakura, however, knew that he just wanted to be on the team. He'd been so excited the first time he'd ridden Harry's Firebolt.)

"Let's do…seeker tryouts first," Ginny said, looking at her list. "Well, Harry, you're the only one…Go ahead."

Harry grinned—he'd been the first to sign up, and when others had seen his name, they'd decided not to try out. He grabbed his Firebolt, and jumped on, waiting for Ginny's signal.

She released the snitch, and he waited a few seconds before zooming after it. He caught it without breaking a sweat. Smiling he landed, and a few people gave appreciative claps.

Not Naruto, though—he and Ron cheered loudly.

"Keeper next, and by the way, great job, Harry." She glanced at her list after putting the snitch away. "Patricia Edwards, and then you, Ron."

Ginny and Patricia leapt onto their brooms, Ginny preparing to throw the Quaffle. Patricia hovered uncertainly, and Ginny threw it with all her might.

Patricia failed to block it, and the next two throws. She sank back to the ground, depressed.

"All right, Ron, you're up."

Ron succeeded swimmingly, as we could have guessed.

"Chasers. Go ahead, Renee. Ron, you'll be keeper?" There were many chasers trying out, and by the end, Naruto was the only one who was acceptable. "Patricia why don't you try out?"

"Okay…" She did, and Ginny found that Patricia was a much better chaser than keeper.

"Great job!" Ginny said with a wide smile.

Patricia looked incredibly pleased with herself. She must not have ever played as a chaser before.

"All right, beaters. Meg and Hinata, you first."

Hesitantly, Hinata and Meg picked up the large bats and got onto the broomsticks.

When they were in the air, and a bludger came soaring towards them, they relaxed, getting into 'the zone'.

Meg hit it towards Ron, still in the air by the goal post, and Hinata was there instantly, hitting the ball back towards Meg. Meg grinned, and hit the ball towards Ginny. Still, Hinata blocked it and sent it towards Ron, and this time, Meg blocked it and sent it back towards her. After a few minutes of what one might call Ping Pong, minus the table, they landed.

Naruto ran over to Hinata and gave her this huge bear hug. "That was great, Hinata!"

She blushed, and mumbled a muffled "Thanks."

Naruto seemed to realize exactly how close they were, and jumped back, also blushing profusely.

They stared at each other briefly, but Hinata lost her nerve and looked away.

Harry nudged Naruto. He smirked at him.

Naruto turned redder than a homegrown tomato.

"N-no! It's not like that! I already told you, I like Sakura!"

Harry remained skeptical. "Your head knows that…but does your heart? Take it from me. Sometimes we fall in love with the last person we'd expect." Harry's eyes were on Ginny.

"Stop ogling my sister!" Ron snapped, slapping Harry on the back of the head.

Harry winced, and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry, mate."

They went through the rest of the tryouts. "The results will be posted after the Hogsmeade trip," Ginny announced, and everyone left.

* * *

Meg and Hinata were strolling back to the castle.

Meg poked her. "You look happy."

Hinata blushed. "We did a good job, that's all."

"Uh-huh. As told to you by a certain blondie."

"…yeah…"

Meg giggled. "He gave you a hug! And did you see how much he blushed? Almost more than you!"

"Shut up."

"Hina's in looooooooooooove, Hina's in looooooove!"

Meg started skipping, and turned around to look at Hinata, still trying to skip, so of course, she ran into what she thought was a tree, but was in fact, Gaara.

He looked down at her, and she looked up and waved. "Hey, Gaara."

He rolled his eyes. "Hi. Hinata, Usagi wants to talk to you."

"Okay. Bye, Meg." She walked a little faster back to the castle.

Meg sighed, and stood up. She started to walk back to the castle, still at a leisurely pace.

To her surprise, Gaara walked alongside her. "You shouldn't make fun of Hinata like that."

"We're just having fun. You should try it sometime."

"…hn."

"I could go back to being depressed. Maybe that would be better for everyone. All I have to do is think about Mum. I guess you wouldn't know about that, though."

"Wrong—I lost both of my parents, and my uncle."

"You don't seem upset."

"None of them loved me. I…was a troubled child. Meeting Naruto changed that…"

She wrinkled her nose. "You aren't gay, are you?"

"WHAT?! No. That's not what I meant—"

"Not that there's anything wrong with that, I just…"

"Just what?"

Her cheeks tinged pink. She thanked the darkness that made her blush invisible. "Nothing. What did you mean?"

"Naruto was my first friend…he changed me."

"Just like Hinata with me."

"Yeah. So don't ruin it."

She was silent for a moment. "…I won't."

They didn't speak again, silently walking to the castle.

* * *

"Everyone who has permission to go, line up here!" McGonnagal called.

It was finally time for the Hogsmeade trip. Ginny and Harry stood apart, far from Ron's eyes. (He could still be a little protective, especially after Harry had broken it off with Ginny, only to kiss her upon arriving at his house...Which makes sense.)

"Where do you want to meet?" Ginny asked, breathless with excitement.

Harry shrugged. "I dunno. Your choice." He gave her a smile.

She smiled. "Why not just the Three Broomsticks? Then if Hermione and 'Wonny' find us, we can just say we were cold…or something."

"Okay. See you there." Harry and Ginny split, as Hermione and Ron approached them. "Naruto!" Harry called, "Over here."

The blonde boy, who was talking to his pink haired friend, Sakura, turned to look at them. "Oh, HEY!"

He and Sakura walked over to them.

Harry's attention was suddenly brought to her hair—in fact, he didn't understand why he hadn't noticed it before. "Sakura, is that your natural hair color?"

"Yeah. It's not that strange where I come from. All our hair colors are a little zany."

He cringed. "I noticed." The hair reminded him of Tonks…Oh, poor Tonks…

He brushed it aside, determined to have a good time.

* * *

Meg and Hinata linked arms as they walked through the streets. Gaara walked alongside them, and Hinata noticed that Meg was strangely not teasing him. She was, in fact, avoiding looking in his general direction at all. Well, Hinata would talk to her about it later.

Hinata was otherwise occupied, anyway. She was looking around in standard amazement at the village. "Let's go in there!" she said, pointing at the Three Broomsticks.

"Okay," Meg said.

Meg opened and held the door open, and as Gaara passed, she sucked in a breath. I'm such a freak, she thought. Why can't I get myself together around him, anymore? She brushed it off, and closed the door behind him, as they walked towards a table in the back.

Madam Rosmerta walked over to their table. "What'll it be?"

"Three butterbeers, please."

"Alright."

Gaara glanced at Meg. "What are 'butterbeers'?"

"Drinks."

He raised the area of skin where there should have been an eyebrow. "Obviously."

"You'll just have to see." She stared down at her hands, clutched in her lap, still unable to shake the vague feeling that was uncomfortable, but at the same time made her feel on top of the world.

"Here you go!" Madam Rosmerta placed their drinks on the table. "3 Galleons." Meg handed her the money, and she bustled off.

Meg took a grateful swig from her butterbeer, and Hinata and Gaara watched, perhaps waiting for her to start vomiting.

"Well? Are you going to drink it? You should before IT drinks YOU!" She cackled, remembering what the shrunken head on the Knight Bus had told her about the pea soup served at the Leaky Cauldron.

They looked even less excited to drink it.

Finally, Hinata took a tentative sip from it. A surprised look came over her face, and she smiled. "It's delicious!"

Gaara, just as cautiously, drank a little, and then set it back down. "It's okay."

Meg looked at him in exasperation, for once the shy feeling gone. "You say that about everything you eat!"

He looked at her skeptically. "Because everything I eat is 'okay'."

She couldn't help it—she burst out laughing.

Hinata joined her laughter. Heck--even Gaara cracked a smile.

Naruto and Sakura, followed by Harry and Co. (Including Ginny, who looked quite disgruntled, due to the fact that everyone was tagging along on her date with Harry.) entered the room. Naruto waved, and ran over, sitting down next to Gaara. "HEY GAARA!"

"Ah. Naruto."

Sakura sat down across from them, and then Hermione and Ron sat down as well.

"Oh, no more room. We'll sit here." Ginny dragged Harry to a table behind them. Ron started to rise, but Hermione shook her head and pulled him back down.

He frowned and pouted.

Then he smiled. "I'll get drinks."

He jumped up and ran off.

Meg, had she been an anime character, would have sweatdropped. "Does he STILL fancy Madam Rosmerta?"

Hermione sighed. "Unfortunately. Luckily, it's like a celebrity crush—it won't go anywhere."

Meg chuckled, but inwardly, she was in turmoil. Maybe that's it—I like Gaara, she thought. I'll talk to Hinata later—she'll know.

* * *

They all left the Three Broomsticks together. Hermione said, "Let's go to the Shrieking Shack."

"Okay." Meg and Hinata linked arms and walked a little ahead, so no one would comment on how Hinata was still looking around in wonder.

Gaara, on the other hand, hung back with Naruto. Naruto was asking about Hinata.

"Why do you care?" was Gaara's response.

Naruto flushed, and scuffed his shoes on the cobblestone pavement. "I don't know…I think I…I might like her."

Inwardly, Gaara laughed. So, he thought, he's finally realized that she's perfect for him.

"What do you want to know?"

"I don't know…do you think I have a chance with her?"

Definitely. But he said, "Probably. You'd have to talk to her."

Naruto paused. "Ummm…is she like sick, or something? Her face is always red when I talk to her."

If Gaara had been better at expressing his emotions, he'd have smacked his forehead in exasperation. "No, baka. If you haven't figured it out, I'm not going to tell you."

"WHAT? Please?"

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Okay, I'll make this simple. You know when you get embarrassed, and your face gets hot?"

"Yeah…"

"When that happens, your face turns red."

"SO SHE'S EMBARRASSED TO TALK TO ME? She must really hate me. Crap."

"Umm, not what I meant." But Naruto wasn't listening, so he blew it off.

* * *

"Hinata? Can I talk to you?"

Hinata turned, and was surprised to see a nervous Naruto standing there.

She flushed, but nodded.

He looked up and noticed the red on her face. "Never mind…I don't want to embarrass you."

"Wh-what?"

He paused. "Your face is all red."

"Umm, Naruto-kun, you aren't embarrassing me. I'm…embarrassing myself." Her voice grew quieter as she spoke.

Naruto scratched his head in confusion. "I guess…that makes sense."

She smiled. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I dunno… I just wanted to talk. About…stuff. Like Quidditch."

"It's fun."

"Yeah…"

The silence stretched out, and Hinata lost her nerve. "Bye," she blurted out, and tried to dash by him, but he grabbed her wrist. She looked back at him.

"Thanks for talking, anyway, Hinata."

Her heart overflowed with compassion—how could anyone hate him? Surprising Naruto, but herself most of all, she wrapped her arms around him. (The feminine urge to comfort was too strong to resist.)

Tentatively, he hugged her back.

And for both of them, everything was right.

* * *

I hope no one found that OoC, because, trust me, that's not what I wanted.

Man, I'm such a dork—I just burned a CD with all the Naruto openings and closings, when I can't even understand them! Please kill me. Whitney:–Shakes head- Not really—then she couldn't write for you guys. (Whitney is the inner me!)

Me: And it's really cool. Heehee.

Wait! Sai can't be alone, either! Who will he get? Need help, please! Vote for one of these:  
1 Sasuke will just live a life of solitude (no Sai/Karin)  
2 SasuKarin, no Sai  
3 SasuKarin, Sai all alone  
4 SasuKarin, SaiOC (OC from Naruto)  
5 SasuKarin, SaiOC (OC from HP)  
6 SasuKarin, SaiIno

Personally, I like 4 or 5. I hate Ino, and Sai needs someone. This won't be important for quite a few chapters, but that's okay. You guys can vote now.

Now a non-story related question: Evanescence or Three Days Grace (these are bands). I don't know. I like both.

Review your choices!

IBG out!


	7. Good and Evil

My italics STILL aren't working. Sorry.

Wow. I must admit I'm surprised. Here are the results: Option 1: **one** vote. 2 got** no** votes. 3 got** one **vote. 4 got **one** vote, 5 got **five **votes, and 6 got **one** vote. Actually, **two** people said KarinSai. I hadn't thought of that. It's a really cool idea, but…I have an idea for option 5, so we're going to do that.

Thanks to: The Crazy Evil Akatsuki Neko, Shrimps of Mass Destruction, Dragon of Twilight, Herm-Own-Ninny879, ellabell, Shashuko the Paisley Maiden, Shukoru, Not a FFnet member, Love-Hidden-Under-Blood, Favrite of Chaos, craziness101, originalatorian, multi guy, Fred Black, and Haku's No. 1 girl.

I can't believe i'm already updating...but it's all thanks to you people screaming: UPDATE! Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

* * *

You're all wondering, where is Sasuke? 

No?

Oh, well. We'll find out, anyway. Yay!

Sasuke, was in fact, talking to Orochimaru and Kabuto.

"You're sure it isn't time yet?"

"Yes."

Zenaku slid from Sasuke's sleeve, and dropped on the floor. She slid over and bit Orochimaru's leg.

He jumped and kicked her off, hissing.

She returned to Sasuke, and hissed into his ear. Yep, still pretending to be a snake.

Sasuke snickered. Karin, who had just walked into the room looked around in confusion.

"Is there a real snake in here?"

Zenaku turned to glance at her.

Briefly, they stared into each other's eyes. Karin smiled. "Can I hold her?"

Sasuke merely nodded. Orochimaru grabbed her arm. "Be careful," he said, "It likes to bite people."

She frowned. "Let go of me." Still, she walked with a bit more caution over to Sasuke and Zenaku.

Zenaku didn't wait—she dropped onto the floor, and slid towards Karin.

Karin paused. If Orochimaru was right, and the snake did like to bite people, she sure had a lot of leg showing—ample opportunity for the snake to bite her. Still, she knelt down, and picked the snake up. The snake seemed to like her.

"What's her name?"

"Zenaku."

"Good and evil..."

Sasuke shrugged. "It seemed to fit."

It fits you, too, she thought.

Orochimaru and Sasuke started discussing the attack again.

Zenaku looked like she was trying to communicate with her. Karin summoned a snake. (I have no idea if she can do this…but go with it, okay?)

"See what she's trying to say, Laila." (I used another of Shrimps of Mass Destruction's suggestions! How cool is that?)

"Okay." Laila spoke Japanese and …snakese! (Oh yes, I made up a word.)

Zenaku and Laila had a conversation.

Laila slithered up her arm, and whispered in her ear, quietly enough that no one else would hear it, "She says Sasuke talks about you often, and that he needs your help."

"My help?"

"To defeat Orochimaru."

"He's going to do it?"

The whispered conversation had drawn the conversation of the others. "What? I can't talk to Laila?"

It was obvious that no one had heard anything, to Karin's immense relief. They ignored her again.

"How can I help him?"

"She says he needs an ally with your power."

Karin hesitated. "Tell Zenaku to tell him I'll do it."

Laila nodded, and returned to Zenaku.

Zenaku bowed to her, then returned to Sasuke. She hissed into his ear, and his gaze fell on Karin, as though he was sizing her up.

She stared back at him.

He smiled—not smirked—and nodded. He returned his attention to Orochimaru, who hadn't even noticed that Sasuke's attention had wandered.

Karin let out a sigh of gratitude. That he respected her enough to ask for her help was…amazing. Superb. Spectacular. Smiling, she let Laila return to wherever summoning animals rested, and started to leave the room. As her foot was halfway through the doorway, Sasuke's voice called her back.

"Wait. I want to talk to Karin alone."

Karin flushed, and returned to the room. Kabuto winked as he passed her, which only deepened her blush.

She took off her glasses.

He was sitting on the couch, now. She sat down next to him, maybe a bit too close. Okay, she was almost on top of him.

"What is it, Sasuke?" she questioned, her voice breathless. "Have you finally realized that we should leave Orochimaru and be a team of our own?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "Part of that." His voice was quiet. "Whisper, okay? I don't want Emo Lord to hear our conversation."

She giggled and nodded.

"And could you move a bit? You're too close."

She frowned. Seemed Sasuke was clueless as ever. She moved about a millimeter, and Sasuke, seemingly understanding that was all he was going to get, accepted that.

"Zenaku told you?" His eyes searched hers hopefully. "She wasn't lying to me, right?"

Zenaku hissed in a disgruntled manner.

Karin assumed it was along the lines of 'Like I'd lie to you.'

"Yeah. I'll help you."

He smiled. "Great."

"What do I need to do?"

"You'll know. I don't want to disclose too much here. Can you meet me some place?"

"Isn't your school at Hogsmeade, today?"

"Yeah."

"Well…meet me there. At Honeydukes."

"How do you know all this?"

She shrugged. "Orochimaru makes me keep tabs on you."

You just love that, don't you? Was Sasuke's only thought. He wasn't as clueless as she thought he was.

"Okay, we'll meet there."

She smiled. "Great."

"Bye, Emo Lord. Twenty minutes?" He directed the last part to Karin.

"Okay."

Sasuke vanished in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Haku sat in his office, staring at the wall. 

He felt sick. Awful.

How…how could he have said those things to Usagi?

He'd been frustrated, of course, but she didn't deserve that.

He had to apologize.

He stood up, leaving his office, and ran through the halls. It was necessary that he found her.

(Look. All the sentences at the beginning of the line start with H. How weird!)

To his surprise, he found her listlessly pacing outside, in front of Hagrid's hut. The one she was staying in to look after Fang.

"Usagi."

She looked up. She was exhausted, and looked like she hadn't slept in days.

He wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

She hugged him back. She was crying. "It's not your fault. I had no right. I'm the one who should be apologizing."

Haku shook his head. "You had every right."

"NO! How can I accuse you? You didn't make Juugo do that. It was his own stupid choice. I'm sorry."

"…I accept this, but I shouldn't have gotten angry."

"We all get angry, Haku-kun. Our argument was proof of that."

He kissed the top of her head.

For a while, they just held onto each other.

Then, "Haku-kun…why am I attracted to you?"

The question caught him completely off guard. "Come again?"

"You're…I don't know. I shouldn't be. You're totally feminine in appearance, which should be slightly repulsive. But…I find it…hot."

"Maybe you're gay," he said seriously.

Silence. "Oh, my gosh, what if you're right?"

He rolled his eyes. "I was kidding. You know I'm a guy. So you're obviously straight."

"Yeah, but—" He cut her off, kissing her soft lips.

She didn't hesitate in returning the kiss.

He ended the kiss. "Now," he said calmly, "Was the person you kissed male or female?"

"Male."

"See? Straight."

She laughed, and laid her head on his chest.

"I think I love you."

"I love you, too," he whispered running his fingers through her hair.

* * *

Everyone's favorite lazy ninja was sitting by the lake, looking up at clouds. Everyone else, except for Neji and Tenten, who were in the library "studying", had gone to Hogsmeade. 

He claimed it was too troublesome, and had walked down to the lake. Tsunade might kill him if she found out, but that was okay. Hinata, Naruto, and Sakura would be more than enough to deal with any trouble.

And it really would have been a drag.

He placed a cigarette in his mouth, and lit it, watching the smoke waft upward.

Temari's shadow fell over him.

"Hey, crybaby. How you doin'?"

He sighed. "A lot better before you showed up."

She frowned and considered hitting him with her fan, then remembered it was in her office.

They sat in silence for a while.

"Shikamaru, I've been thinking…"

"Sounds dangerous."

"Shut up. I've been wondering. Since I am a teacher of Muggle Studies, I've noticed distinct similarities between us, as shinobi, and these muggles. My question is…Are we muggles?"

He glanced at her.

"That would be too much of a drag to think through…I don't think so. We can use these seemingly useless pieces of wood." As if to make a point, he waved the wand, and murmured, "Orchideous." A bouquet of flowers burst from the tip of his wand. "For you," he said offering the bouquet to her. (Real spell! See Goblet of Fire, page 308.)

She blushed and accepted the flowers.

They let the silence engulf them for a moment.

Then, "I thought you quit smoking."

"Nah. Just while Ino was around."

"Ino?"

"She bugs me about it all the time, and it got to be too troublesome. So I don't smoke around her."

Temari chuckled. "Just like you, crybaby. Give up when things get to troublesome."

"More like strategic retreat."

"Because everything's strategic, for you, right?" she said.

He grinned. "Yep."

She rolled her eyes and threw one of the flowers at him.

He glanced at her. "What?"

"Is our relationship 'strategic'?"

"What? No."

She shook her head and stood up. "Bye crybaby."

She walked back to the castle muttering, "Stupid. So stupid!"

* * *

Oh no! Temari's mad at Shika-kun! But hey! Haku and Usagi made up. 

Poll numeró trés! (Er…I hope I didn't accent that wrong. Ugh.)  
What's your favorite Naruto character? I have a top five list. Check it out:

1. Gaara (Duh)  
2. Haku (He's just so cool!)  
3. Juugo (He's bi-polar. How can you not love that?)  
4. Sai (He's got that hair…and he's awesome--currently, cuz he's trying to improve.)  
5. Shikamaru (He's a genius! And lazy…just like me!)

Those aren't your only options: choose any character! You can give me a list of any character, or just your all time fave--your choice.

Oh, and can someone tell me: what color is Karin's hair? I don't know if it's pink or red… If it is pink, I guess we can decide that pastel haired people like Sasuke. Weird, eh?

Oh, and did you know, when I type Sasuke, my spell check says: Sauce! Naruto: Maputo! (What is that?) Hinata: Piñata. Makes me laugh, every time. You know what's really cool, when I type Zenaku, spell check claims that I mean snake! I thought that was amazing, considering Zenaku is a snake.

You know the CD I burned, with all the Naruto stuff on it? I'm listening to it…It was fun. (Thanks to Not a FFnetMember for telling me it was okay that I didn't understand what the heck they were saying. He or She's right—They're just cool songs.)

IBG out!


	8. New Feelings of Many a Variety

_Ahahahaha! Gaara wins, hands down. Next would have to be Haku, then…Itachi. Then Shika. Then Temari. Then Deidara, Hinata, Naruto, Shino, Kakashi, Juugo, Sasori, Sasuke, Sai, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Iruka…these are the answers people have given me._

_This is in no way a real answer. It's just the people who read my story. Hah! They agree with me…somewhat._

_As a side note, Sonic (the hedgehog) won, and Evanescence also won, although several people have the same issue as me—they can't decide. Hmmm… that means they're both rockin' awesome! I should listen to my song, right now…Nah, can't stop the Naruto CD._

_Thanks: Kina Lupi, none, Shrimps of Mass Destruction, Not a FFnet Member, Shukoru, Shashuko the Paisley Maiden, ellabell, Fred Black, Favrite of Chaos, multi guy, The Crazy Evil Akatsuki Neko, craziness101, mintmelodygirl, Haku's No. 1 Girl, ElementalDarkness_

_Sorry it took so long to upload…high school…Stupid geometry and civics…They both gave me massive amounts of homework._

* * *

Draco was walking alone, and considered going to the Hogs Head. He was pretty bored. 

"Draco!" He glanced up, and saw Sakura waving at him down the street. She was walking with a large group of Gryffindors, including Potter, two Weasleys, and Granger.

They looked a bit disgusted that she was speaking to him.

"Sakura, are you going to introduce us to your friend?" That was the blonde boy, the one with the impossible-to-pronounce name.

"Sure." They had reached him, now. "Naruto, this is Draco. Draco, Naruto."

"Hi."

"Hey! Why don't you come with us to Honeyduke's?"

"I don't know…" Draco said, glancing at Harry and Co. with some doubt.

"Let's go to Zonko's."

That was another Gryffindor, the name of which he didn't know.

"Okay, Meg," the girl who looked a bit like her, only she had white eyes and blue hair.

Maybe she's blind, he thought. That couldn't be right, though. She was looking around in crazed awe.

Sakura glanced at Hermione and Ginny. They exchanged a glance. "I dunno…" Ginny said at last.

Sakura frowned. "Fine. You guys go have fun at Honeyduke's."

Naruto looked torn. He grabbed Sakura's arm. "Hey! We can't just leave them."

"Then you stay with them."

"Alone?!"

"What, don't believe in yourself? I thought your catchphrase was 'Believe it!'" (Rabid anti-fan dub people—don't attack me. Since they're in England, they have to speak English. DUH! I normally prefer Dattebayo, as well, but we can't have everything in this life.)

"Yeah, but…"

"I believe in you, Naruto. Besides, Gaara will be there. Now go. I'll watch Draco."

The two girls who had announced they were going to Zonko's were discussing something. Meg giggled suddenly, and nodded.

"Hey, Sakura? We're going to go with them, okay?"

Sakura glanced at Hinata. They exchanged a look, and Hinata lifted a single shoulder, as though she were having spasms. Sakura nodded.

Some kind of signal, Draco decided.

Sakura turned and smiled at Draco. "It's just us, then." She grabbed his hand, and they rushed through the crowd.

* * *

Sasuke pretended to look at lollipops, until a store employee came up and asked him if he wanted to buy one.

He considered charbroiling the stand, and walking away, but he said "Sure. Two."

He gave the man his money, and took the lollipops.

He didn't know why he bought two, but he supposed if he didn't like it he could give one to Karin.

Speaking of the said red head… (About that-- I got two answers for red, one for dark, dark pink, so I just went with red.)

Karin tapped his shoulder. She smiled. "Let's walk. There are too many people here."

He nodded, and they walked outside. He opened a lollipop, and glad that he hadn't bought a huge pinwheel one, popped it into his mouth.

It was okay…but…not his cup of tea. "Lollipop?" he asked, offering her the other one, mouth still full.

"Thanks." She took and unwrapped it, but before she could eat it…

"TEME!"

"Oh, great…the Dobe's back." (Hero's Come Back is the coolest Naruto opening. Just wanna point that out. It's somewhat related—the dobe's back, Hero's Come Back…You know.) Sasuke and Karin turned to face Naruto.

"Oi, Teme! What are you doing here?"

"If you haven't noticed, I go to school here. Got issues with that? Take it to the Headmistress."

"Why is _she_ here?"

"We're talking. Is that a sin?"

"YES!"

"…"

"Hi! I'm Karin! Sasuke has told me so much about you!"

"It's all lies!" Naruto cried, suddenly looking nervous.

"Oh, so you aren't a great wizard? An awesome Quidditch player?"

"Oh. Yes, those facts are true. I thought he was telling you I was a 'right foul git', or something."

"Nope. It was nice to meet you, Naruto."

"You too. Now, back to you, teme."

Sasuke, was however gone, seemingly having vanished when Karin was talking to Naruto.

Karin frowned. "I hate it when he does that. Toodles, Naruto."

Gaara came and stood next to Naruto. "She was a shinobi."

He glanced at him in surprise. "You think so?"

"Yep. Her hair was red. How many wizards do you know that dye their hair? None. Plus, she had red eyes, and was dressed all skanky mugglish."

"You're right." He paused. "I had no idea you even noticed girl clothing."

Gaara rolled his eyes.

"Let's go. Hinata might die, being all alone with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny."

Gaara shrugged. "With Meg there, she'll be okay."

"Yeah…but we shouldn't leave her alone."

Gaara held in a snicker, but couldn't stop the smirk that spread across his face.

Naruto shoved him. Furiously blushing, he said, "Don't say anything."

"I won't, I won't."

* * *

Sai raised an eyebrow. "You only want me to go?"

"You're going to join their team, as a 'caretaker of the grounds'."

He smiled.

"Here." She tossed him a boot. "Portkey no Jutsu!"

* * *

Tenten and Neji weren't in fact, in the library. Well, Neji was. Tenten had left a little earlier, and had gone on a walk around the grounds. She was twirling senbon needles between her fingers. (She had told everyone they were quills, and surprisingly they believed her.)

She was thinking about Neji, and his gorgeous hair that she was somewhat jealous of—who wouldn't be? —So she didn't see the girl, and nearly ran into her.

It was some Gryffindor girl, who she didn't know.

"Sorry. Didn't see you there."

"It's cool."

Tenten was about to continue her walk, when the girl said, seemingly out of the blue. "This school gets weirder and weirder."

"What do you—oh, Sai, you're so stupid!"

Sai had chosen the perfect time to fall from the sky.

"Stupid hag," he muttered, dusting himself off.

"SAI! WHAT IS YOUR ISSUE?! Appearing in front of a student!"

The girl raised an eyebrow. "And what are you supposed to be?"

Tenten ignored her.

"It's the hag's fault…Little Mouse." (I don't know what he calls Tenten, but this seems to fit.)

She threw a senbon at him, but he caught it between two fingers, and examined it closely.

"Now there's a student who knows about us!"

"Oh, man, are you dark wizards?!" the girl gasped.

"What? No. We're shinobi," Sai explained.

"Sai, this is reconnaissance!"

"Coulda fooled me."

"What's a shinobi? And who are you really?"

"I really am Tenten, but I don't have a last name." Tenten decided she should just tell her everything.

"I'm Sai!" he said, with that false cheery smile. "Who are you?"

"I'm Patricia Edwards. Anyway, what's a shinobi? And are you…like…bad guys?"

"Well, Patricia Edwards, shinobi are more commonly known as ninjas, from Japan."

"We aren't going to hurt anyone. We're here to protect Harry Potter."

"Oh, like Aurors?"

"Sure."

"Why did you fall from the sky?"

"Portkey."

"Oh."

"You know you can't tell anyone, right?"

"…Yeah, I guess. But wait! How do I know you're telling the truth?"

For a minute, Tenten and Sai pondered this. Then Sai smiled. "You don't. You'll just have to trust us."

Patricia thought about it.

"You know we'll be watching you now, right? Well, someone in Gryffindor will be. Sakura or Naruto. Maybe Hinata. Or Gaara."

Sai raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure, Little Mouse? That's so many people."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

"But the book said to have nicknames for everyone! For instance, Patricia Edwards is…Snowflake. See? She has white skin, and almost white hair. And you have buns on your head, so you're Little Mouse."

Patricia frowned. "Snowflake?"

"The book said to have nicknames for your friends."

"Friend?"

"Don't you want to be my friend?"

"Don't be his friend, he's irritating and difficult."

"Sure, I'll be your friend. Whatever. How many of you are there?"

"One each, although we can clone ourselves," said Tenten.

"No, I meant, how many shinobi?"

"Hundreds, back home," Tenten said.

Patricia blew out a breath of frustration. Tenten could be just as difficult as she claimed Sai was. "How many shinobi are here?"

"Oh, in that case…13. Well, actually, 14. We're not sure the other one's on our side, yet…"

"Make that 15."

"Oh, Raccoon, it's you!" Sai was smiling cheerfully at the newly arrived Gaara.

"Don't call me that. There's some girl named Karin here. She's aligned with Sasuke, whoever he's aligned with. I can't stay long, but may I ask why we're telling Patricia what's going on?"

"Mr. Genius here fell from the sky in front of her."

"Ah. Tell the others about Karin. I have to go back to Hogsmeade to watch Harry."

"Okay. Bye, Raccoon! By the way, Snowflake, why aren't you in Hogsmeade?"

Patricia shrugged. "Didn't feel like it, I guess."

"That's too bad. Where's Ugly, Little Mouse?"

"Sakura is in Hogsmeade with everyone else."

"Ah."

"Sakura isn't that ugly," Patricia pointed out.

"To each his own," Sai said with a shrug.

Patricia frowned.

They walked back to the castle.

* * *

_Ha! You thought Patricia was just there, didn't you? Wrongo! _

_Whoop! Do you favor Sprite, Sierra Mist, or 7up? That's the question of the day. (I prefer Sierra Mist. If you don't, good for you.) And if you like the Sam's club or K-mart brand, props to you! Tell me about it. IBG wants your feedback._

_I have no idea why I ask these questions…maybe because it's fun. Well, it's fun for me, anyway. Hahahameow! (That's my friend's 'evil laugh'.)_

_Oh, my gosh. When I type Itachi, spell check says: itchy! Deidara (this was too funny) says deodorant. Draco equals Drano. Some kinda pipe cleaner. Oh, and Neji is a Nazi! Ha, ha. Gotta love spell check…always laughable. _

_**OH, News of the Day: Chouji is PHAT, not FAT!**_

_-Insane laughter, interrupted by Janet hitting me-_

_Janet: Stop that, or I'll hit you again. (Janet: violent inner voice)_

_Me: Owie. That hurt._

_Whitney: Yes, it did. Do that again, Janet, and I'll kill you. I actually can. –Grumbles angrily- (Whitney: in case you forgot—Inner Me!)_

_-General argument emerges from the rest of my voices…and me-_

_Alyssa: Yay! The people are reading our conversation, Brittney!_

_Brittney: Cuz we're the only one's not fighting._

_Alyssa: it makes me happy!_

_Brittney: …You're always happy. That's what I love about you!_

_Alyssa: That also makes me happy. EVERYONE LOVES ME!_

_Me: You're scary--like a clown. How can you always be happy?_

_Alyssa: Like this! –Beams with teeth brighter than the sun-_

_Me: Yay, TOOTHPASTE!_

_IBG (and voices) out!_

* * *

**Ha! We're doing a bonus upload today! This means twice as long for you guys.**

**That Author/and voices note was planted! –Cackles evilly-**

…**You don't think that's worth an evil laugh? Dang it. I was never good at this type of thing…**

**Though the note was planted, it all is true…except for the IBG (and voices) out! Bit. Obviously I'm still here, and trust me, the voices are giving me a headache…-sobs-**

**As a side note, I listened to three CD's to write the first half, which were the Naruto CD, One-X by Three Days Grace, and Pieces of You by Jewel. (The last one made me go all emo.) I'm currently listening to a mix, with Avril Lavigne, Evanescence, Green Day, Hoobastank, Josh Groban, Journey, Mandy Moore, Plain White T's, The Fray, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and Three Days Grace. Hah! I'll keep you posted, I guess.**

**Anyway, here's the rest of the chapter. It takes place like…two months later. Enjoy!**

* * *

Everyone knew something was wrong. That much was apparent. Temari was pissed off, and Shikamaru quit smoking. 

Like he was worried.

Very worried.

They still hadn't made up—they were avoiding talking to each other, which proved difficult, as Shikamaru was in her Muggle Studies class.

Neji and Tenten watched them skirt around each other in Muggle Studies.

It was sort of funny…in an ironic way.

Another point of interest was the budding relationship between Haku and Usagi. All the shinobi had known, of course, that they'd end up together…all of them but Haku and Usagi themselves.

They were all waiting for Naruto to confess his undying love to Hinata. He was still too shy, apparently.

Then there was Sakura's little romance with Draco Malfoy, which had shocked everyone, least of all Sasuke…

* * *

**Flashback**

"_Sakura?"_

_She gasped, spinning, her hand still in Draco's. "Sa-Sasuke…"_

"_HIM? Of all the people, you chose HIM?"_

_She stiffened. "Shut up. You don't make decisions for me, okay?" Nervously, she stepped closer to Draco._

_Sasuke wasn't going to hurt him on HER watch._

_Sasuke spun away, filled with hurt._

_-Later-_

"_Sakura."_

"_Sasuke."_

_Sakura was walking the moonlit grounds, and had come across Sasuke…_

_He reached for her, but she said, "Don't," and pulled away._

_Don't walk too close  
Don't breathe so soft  
Don't talk so sweet  
Don't sing  
Don't lay oh so near  
Please, don't let me fall in love with you again  
Please let me forget  
All those sweet smiles  
All of the passion  
All of the peace, the heat, the pain  
All those blues skies  
Where your words were my freedom  
Please, don't let me fall in love with you again  
Too many times  
I've cared too much  
I stood on the edge  
And saw that you held my hand  
And knowing too well  
I couldn't hide from those eyes  
Please, don't let me fall in love with you again. (I don't own '_Don't'_by Jewel)_

_Sasuke watched her vanishing figure, and then gazed at the full moon._

"_I guess this is…somewhat of a good bye, Sakura-chan," he murmured aloud._

**Flashback Ends**

* * *

And Quidditch! How could we forget? (And yes, she means we…as in IBG refers to herself in either the third person, or as 'we' or 'us'.) 

Here's what the list said:

_Seeker: Harry Potter  
Chasers: Ginny Weasley, Naruto Uzumaki, and Patricia Edwards  
Keeper: Ron Weasley  
Beaters: Hinata Hyuuga and Meg Ryder_

One should note that Hinata nearly had a heart attack when she read the list.

Especially since she received a joyful hug of congratulations and excitement from Naruto.

But what of Orochimaru and Sasuke? And Karin? Let's find out…

* * *

"It's not time yet," Sasuke said tersely.

Karin leaned against the wall, behind Orochimaru, observing.

"Sasuke, how much longer will you make Orochimaru-sama wait?" Kabuto asked.

"Until the time is right. We shouldn't rush this," Sasuke snapped. "There's shinobi all over the place guarding Potter."

"And there always will be! We need to act NOW!"

"But—"

"Fine. Two weekssss…and then…"

"Too soon!" Sasuke was frustrated and depressed. Karin saw that. Orochimaru probably did, too, but he didn't know why.

Karin, of course did…She knew about Sakura, and how Sasuke had always liked her, but refused to admit it. (First stage of a crush: denial. Second: anger. Third: acceptance) That's why he was depressed. He was frustrated, because he wasn't prepared to take down Orochimaru.

"NO EXCUSESSSSSSS! We attack in two weekssss. Currently, he isss unaware that we plan on attacking him. This isss perfect…"

Sasuke sighed. "Fine." His eyes landed on Karin. "Can we talk?"

She nodded.

When Orochimaru and Kabuto didn't leave, Sasuke sighed. "Alone?"

They took the hint and left.

Sasuke fell back onto the couch, and put his face in his hands. He blew out a frustrated sigh.

Karin didn't move from the wall. She could tell now wasn't the time for flirting…

His head snapped up to look at her, Sharingan blazing in his eyes.

She took in an involuntary gasp. The murderous intent…

He blew out a breath of frustration, and his eyes returned to the dark shade again. "It's…not…fair."

She shrugged sympathetically. "Nothing is. You of all people should know that."

He clenched his fist. "Itachi…"

She sighed. "Now isn't the time. We need to figure out what to do."

Kabuto suddenly leaned in the doorway. "You two sure are spending a lot of time together…"

"…" Karin remained silent.

"Maybe we are together. Could you briefly get out of my life, for just five minutes?" Sasuke snapped. Karin colored slightly.

Kabuto frowned. "Aren't we grumpy?"

"Just get out."

Kabuto grumbled and walked out.

"C'mon." Sasuke motioned for her to follow him outside.

She closed her eyes as he opened the door. When she opened them, he was watching her expectantly. "Coming?"

"Yeah…" she murmured, and followed him out the door.

"I don't know what to do," he sighed after he closed the door. "I won't be ready in time…"

"I hate to suggest this…but maybe…"

"What?"

"Maybe you should get help from the Konoha shinobi."

He stared at her like she was crazy. "They won't help me…but you're right. That's the only way this'll be successful."

"We have to try…"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

* * *

Meg stared at the envelope in her hand.

It was a normal envelope, just come by the owl post.

And yet...

There was this deep feeling of foreboding. A feeling that she really didn't want to open the letter.

And so she hesitated.

But she couldn't sit there forever looking like a total idiot.

She slid a finger underneath the envelope fold, breaking the seal. She drew it back, along with drawing in a breath. She pulled out the contained letter, and slowly unfolded the letter.

Her eyes blurred before she finished the first sentence.

_Ms. Ryder,_

_We regret to inform you that your father has passed… _

She stood, and ran from the Great Hall.

"Meg?" Hinata cried out as Meg nearly bowled her over. "Meg, what's wrong?"

But Meg kept running, running to the common room, pushing past students.

When she reached The Fat Lady, and was asked for the password, she was unable to remember it in her agony.

For a few brief moments, she crumpled to the ground and just sobbed, sitting outside the portrait hole.

Gaara's voice spoke from behind her. "Bollocks."

The portrait swung open, and Gaara leaned down to help her up. She took his hand, and allowed him to guide her into the common room.

Still sobbing, she clung to him, arms tight around his neck, refusing to let go.

He didn't speak—she didn't want him to.

He just held her.

That was enough.

* * *

**Okay, here's the real end, I guess. Sorry to end on a sad note, and sorry it took so long. You know…high school.**

**Anyway, I also listened to The Open Door, by Evanescence. That makes five CDs…for one chapter. Do you know how many hours that is?**

** I had to watch the Republican debate for Civics, and it was actually pretty cool. In case you didn't know, I'm a conservative. And I support Romney...MORMON POWER! (Yes, I'm Mormon. Before you ask: no, we don't have horns, I cut my hair, I have electricity, we're Christian...and we aren't the ones who knock on your door all the time and annoy the crap out of you.)**

**The question is still Sprite, Sierra Mist, or 7up…or generic.**

**Review, please!**

**IBG out!**


	9. What the Heck is Going On, Sasuke?

**Oh man, oh man! This will doubtless take forever to update…Eh…Sorry…**

**Thanks to: Kikyo Uchiha, mintmelodygirl, Dragon of Twilight, Shashuko the Paisley Maiden, The Crazy Evil Akatsuki Neko, Inner Cameron, multi guy, Shukoru, QueenMeStar, sheenio (twice), Shrimps of Mass Destruction, Haku's No. 1 girl, gs rocks, and natsi.  
**

**Question for the Crazy Evil Akatsuki Neko: Do you have two heads? This is what goes on in my head…-sigh-**

**Fred Black and George Black—that is super awesome. I wish I had a twin to do something like that with. Ha, ha.**

* * *

Gaara, as we know, was not an emotional person—Emo, he was not. 

However, he did understand Meg's grief. Hadn't he felt the same when Yashamaru had died? Of course, Yashamaru had also betrayed him…but we won't talk about that.

McGonagall had tried to send him to class, but Meg had refused to let go of his hand. Currently, McGonagall was explaining what had happened, although Meg wasn't listening.

She was somewhat stuck in a state of shock, and nothing was really sinking in.

"…I hope you understand, they did everything they could for him. Take the day off—don't go to any classes, I'll write a note for your teachers. Mr. Sabaku, perhaps you should—"

"Professor, it doesn't really matter if I go to class. It might be better if I stayed with Meg."

She blinked, flustered. "Very well."

Meg didn't even blink when McGonagall left the common room. She stared blankly into the space McGonagall had previously occupied, silent as the night.

Gaara didn't speak; he waited.

She didn't move from her position next to him, but after several moments of silence, she spoke. "My father and I weren't really close or anything…" Her voice trailed off.

Gaara finished for her. "But he was the last thing you had."

She nodded slowly.

He was silent briefly, but then he said, "You have Hinata…and…you have…me."

She didn't respond at first, but she leaned against him, still holding his hand tightly. "How long…how long will you be here, though? A year, at the most. And there's always that chance…" She looked up into his eyes. "That chance that you'll leave before then," she finished.

His eyes widened a little bit, but he wasn't too surprised—it was normal for Temari to pick up vibes from him, so why not Meg? It was understandable that she might figure out they wouldn't be staying the whole year.

"I know… But for now, that will have to be enough."

Silence engulfed them again, and Meg's face crumpled, tears beginning to run down her face.

Shinobi are emotionless. They didn't get involved with clients, or civilians.

Sucks to that, was Gaara's only thought, as he put his arms around Meg, and she started to cry on his shoulder. (A/N: Possibly the best part of Lord of the Flies—"Sucks to your auntie! Sucks to your As-mar!" On second thought…that was the only good part.)

* * *

"Ms. Edwards?" 

Patricia looked up at Professor Haku. "Yes, Professor?"

"Would you deliver this note to the Caretaker, Sai?"

"Sure." She went to the front of the room, and took the note from Haku. "Do you know where he might be?"

"I'd check the Great Hall."

"Thanks." She exited the room, and walked to the Great Hall.

As she walked, she thought about Meg.

Meg was a great friend and a blast to have around during Quidditch practice.

When she had dashed from the Hall that morning…the look of stark terror on her face was enough to drive that American muggle TV character Oscar the Grouch to tears.

She ducked her head in sadness and because of this, she didn't see Sai and nearly ran into him.

"Whoa! Watch it, Snowflake."

Embarrassed at her lack of attention, she blushed a light pink. "Sorry," she muttered.

He smirked, and remarked off-handedly, "You're pretty when you blush."

This awakened a weird feeling in her—not quite embarrassment. Her mouth sort of just hung open, and her face turned a bit—well, a lot—redder. "ProfessorHakuwantedmetogiveyouthis," she blurted, thrusting the note into his hand.

He caught the note and raised an eyebrow.

Then all of the sudden, Sai leaned forward, caught her cheek in a single hand, and buried his face in her hair, drawing in the scent of her hair. "Mmmm…Cherries."

She gaped at the shinobi as he drew back.

"It's quite unseemly to stand there with your mouth wide open."

With some effort, she shut her mouth. She pursed her lips. "It's quite unseemly to smirk like that."

"Ooooh, burn."

She grinned wryly, and then realized his hand was still holding her cheek. Her face grew hot again.

He leaned closer again, his face barely an inch away. She felt his breath on her lips, and he moved closer. "Thanks for the note…" His lips brushed against hers as he spoke. Then he stepped back and brushed by her.

Eyes wide, she turned around and stared after him.

She lifted a finger to her lips, and whispered, "What…?"

* * *

Sasuke liked hair. He always had. After all, Uchihas were known for their wicked hair styles. 

He especially liked Karin's hair.

It was entertaining—short and messy, similar to his own on one side, and long and smooth on the other.

Sitting in Haku's class, he wasn't quite sure why he was thinking about this, but nevertheless, he was.

Truthfully, he decided, he liked Karin in general.

It was a new development, and actually one that wasn't so bad.

When he had first met her, he had decided she was just a stupid fan girl like Ino or Sakura.

Except she knew when to stop.

And maybe that made all the difference.

* * *

At the end of class, McGonagall grabbed Harry. "I need to talk to you, Mr. Potter. It involves Meg." 

"What about her?"

"It turns out, her mother was Sirius' cousin."

"Really? But…why wasn't she on the tree at Grimmauld Place?"

"She was removed from the family tree because she married a muggle."

"Meg's father?"

"No. He died, and she remarried, to a wizard this time."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because, Meg needs a family. And you're the closest thing."

He looked at her for a long moment. "…Okay."

"Right now, she's in the common room, with Mr. Sabaku. She refused to be parted with him."

"Well…maybe I should let them alone for a while."

McGonagall hesitated. "I suppose you're right. Just…make sure you talk to her."

"Alright, Professor."

* * *

Sakura's fingers brushed against Draco's as they reached for the plant in the greenhouse. 

She trembled at the slightest touch from him—not out of fear—a weird giddiness that she couldn't help but enjoy.

He had kissed her.

He'd grabbed her hand after they'd left DADA (didn't feel like typing it out) and pulled her into an alcove in the hallway. Then, obviously nervous, he'd pulled her close, and brushed his lips gently against hers. His cheeks flushed scarlet, he drew away, only to be kissed again by Sakura.

She giggled as once again, their fingers bushed.

Draco couldn't help but smirk.

She looked down at the plants, trying to focus on the class. Her hair fell in her eyes, so she flicked it back. It was a real pain running around without her forehead protector to hold back her hair.

But his proximity was disconcerting. There was no way she'd be paying any kind of attention.

Had he been concerned about passing the class—although Sakura wasn't, really—he'd have had the same feeling of disability to concentrate on anything but her.

Of course, he still was unable to concentrate on anything but her. However, as he didn't really care about doing the assignment, it was fine with him.

He ran his fingers through her hair. They were positioned so that Professor Sprouts wouldn't notice things like that.

She turned as pink as her hair.

"Stop iiiiit…" she whined, pretending to be irritated. She was secretly pleased.

"You know you love it."

She couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face. "Shut up."

"I love you."

She hesitated. Should she dive this deep? It seemed too risky…She made up her mind, and didn't respond.

Draco sighed.

"I'm…I'm just not ready for that, yet…" she whispered.

"Will you ever be?"

She turned away, lowering her eyes. "…I…don't know." She was scared that if she confessed her feelings…

It'd be too hard to let him go.

Shinobi are emotionless. They didn't get involved with their clients, or civilians.

This is just like before, she thought. I can't control my emotions. It's just like with Sasuke…only worse…

* * *

Instead of going straight to dinner as he normally did, Harry headed up to the common room to see Meg. 

As he entered the room, he heard Gaara ask her if she wanted to go get something to eat.

Meg's voice was strangled, but unmistakably hers. "Not if I have to see people."

She and Gaara were sitting on the couch, and she stared into the flames in the fireplace blindly. She was deeply burrowed in Gaara's arms.

Well. He hadn't seen **that** one coming.

Harry came and sat down on her other side. "If you're hungry, I could get Kreacher to bring us food up here."

Meg jumped, obviously startled by his presence. Subconsciously, she snuggled deeper in Gaara's embrace. "I dunno…"

"You need to eat," Gaara stated calmly.

"M'kay…"

"Kreacher!" Harry called.

Kreacher, the new and improved, smiled. "Hello, master."

"Kreacher, could you please bring us some food? Meg isn't feeling well enough to go downstairs."

"Okay." Kreacher vanished with a crack.

After he returned with food for the three of them, Harry glanced at Meg.

"Meg…" he began, "Today, McGonagall told me about your mother."

Her eyes widened, and she flinched.

"Not about your mother, at least not directly," he amended, "She told me about your mom's family. Did you know, Sirius is your mom's cousin?"

Silence. She stared at him wordlessly, and the only sound was her shallow breaths.

"What does that…mean, exactly?"

"Well, as Sirius was my Godfather, I suppose that makes us…second cousins, twice removed." (Actually, I'm not sure about this, but I think that's what they would be. If anyone knows, please tell me!)

"Oh."

They didn't speak, then, not sure what to say. Okay, we're related…so what? This was the basic thought.

It seemed the bonding would have to wait.

* * *

Naruto was picking listlessly at his spaghetti. He looked up slowly, his eyes meeting Sasuke's. 

Sasuke was staring at him, seemingly mulling over something. Abruptly, he stood. He walked away, striding down the aisle.

Naruto's eyes returned to his spaghetti. He tried to eat some more.

He looked up suddenly, sensing a presence. Sasuke leaned over the table, glaring into Naruto's eyes.

"Tonight," he said simply. "Tonight…he strikes. I'll be fighting with you."

Sasuke had said 'with'.

The word didn't tell either way whose side he was on.

Was he against them?

Or, as he said, with them?

The warning—was it just so his victory would be so much more sweet? Or was he truly concerned with Harry's safety?

He was left to think this over as Sasuke's silent figure vanished.

* * *

**Okay. I'm sorry it took so long to upload—you have no idea…**

**My cat died. This unfortunate occurrence caused me to be depressed for awhile, and thus, I couldn't write.**

**Though that may sound stupid to you, it isn't to me. Callie has been my 'kitty' my WHOLE LIFE. Seriously, she's been with me since I was a baby. **

**It's a big deal.**

**On the bright side, I finally got to read Twilight. It took me two days…I had to go to school between that time, and I finished another book in that time period, too. haha. **

**It was AWESOME! (Hey, **multi guy**, Edward does seem kinda hot. rotflol)**

**So, Coke, Pepsi, or Dr. Pepper? -points to DP hat on head- Go Dr. Pepper! You can't deny it... **

**Anyway, I didn't listen to any music…how weird.**

**Is it still good?**

**R&R, por favor!**

**IBG out!**

** Oh, by the way. It might take awhile to update, cuz I'm also writing something else, currently. Apology.  
**


	10. So This is How it Ends

_I'm BACK!! Now you all must tell me how much you love me! Although…at the end of this chapter…NO! NO SPOILERS!_

_I would like to officially thank my favorite band, the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, (whom I don't own) for the CD 'Don't You Fake It', because I listened to it CONSTANTLY while writing this. THANK YOU! YOU ROX MY FLIPPIN' SOX!! (If you look carefully, you'll see implied lyrics...twice! I won't tell you what song, or anything. Whoever can find them gets…the next chapter dedicated to them! And I don't own the song, or the CD, except for my copy. It is on the CD, I'll tell you that.)_

_Thank you to everyone who was sad about my cat. You guys rock. Honestly, I feel much better now; please don't worry. We're getting a new kitty when it's not cold anymore. Definitely will NOT be named Callie…-shudders- And, um…I'll just move on to thank reviewers._

_Thanks to: Shrimps of Mass Destruction, Favrite of Chaos, Haku's No. 1 Girl, Kikyo Uchiha, Dragon of Twilight, Not a FFnet Member, THE Hyuuga Neji (response to you at the bottom, K?), Shukoru, xxHyourinxx, 1GaaraFan, Inner Cameron, Elemental Darkness, none, The Crazy Evil Akatsuki Neko, multi guy (IT'S STILL FUNNY!), stephy-chan! (A special thanks to you!), pavement-grass (thanks for the much needed advice!), kina lupi, mintmelodygirl, craziness101, narutardedbandgeek, Jinchuriki, elfnin399, and AngelBornofHell! Three more reviews, and we'll have reached the big 1-5-0!!  
_

_Since this is getting too long, I'll move on to the story. (Who knew thanking reviewers could take so much room?)_

* * *

Naruto burst into the common room. "Gaara! I HAVE TO TALK TO YOU!"

Silently, Gaara disentangled himself from Meg, and she reluctantly let him stand. He crossed the room to face Naruto.

"What? Did your hamster die?"

"Sasuke," Naruto paused to take a deep breath. When he spoke again, the words came out in a rush. "SasukesaidthatOrochimaruwasgoingtoattacktonight!"

"Hn?" Gaara asked, a man of many words as usual. If only Naruto would learn to annunciate properly.

Naruto took in another deep breath. "Sasuke said that Orochimaru was going to attack tonight."

Gaara sighed. "First, calm down."

Naruto nibbled his lip. "Okay."

"Now, tell everyone to be on guard tonight, in here," Gaara continued.

"Uh-huh."

"And everything will be okay."

"Okay. I gotta go. See you later!" Naruto ran off to inform everyone of the plan.

Strange how everyone seemed to think that Gaara was the team leader, rather than Kakashi or Anko… Or anyone else. Gaara was probably the youngest, albeit the highest rankwise.

He shrugged it off, and turned to look back at Meg, who was picking at her food. Harry was attempting to talk to her, but was unsuccessful in carrying on a conversation. Eventually, he left. Gaara sighed and returned to the couch.

Meg looked up at him and smiled sadly, helplessly. He felt a twinge of regret as she leaned into his arms. He couldn't stay. If Sasuke was right, and Orochimaru did attack tonight, then tomorrow…

He wanted to push that thought away, but he knew he couldn't. So instead, he pushed Meg away and turned from her hurt and confused face.

"I…can't…do this," he whispered.

"Why?" Her voice was filled with pain. "If you don't…feel that way about me, I understand, but I feel like it's more then that…"

"It is more then that." He refused to look at her, but he heard her gasp, as though she'd been slapped.

"So…you don't…like me at all?" Her voice cracked.

"No. I like you…far too much," he murmured. "I like you enough to stay away. I have to leave, at least at the end of this year. You know that."

"Yes. And I'll miss you, but—"

"Please," he whispered, cutting her off.

She stared at him, wanting more than anything for him to take her back into his arms. But his back was rigid; he wasn't backing down.

"For me," he continued, "Don't come too close. I'm…somewhat unstable." He almost smiled. "Losing you will already almost kill me."

"Why…can't you be with me now? We'll get over it."

"I don't think I will." He looked up, turning his eyes—burning with something she couldn't identify—on her. "I…would die for you, if it would save you."

Her eyes were wide and confused. "Really?"

"Really." His gaze was certain, unwavering, but he turned away, gazing into the fire, unable to meet her gaze.

"Why?"

"You are…special to me. I want to protect my special people." A fleeting smile crossed his face, as he recalled Naruto informing him the same thing, so many years ago.

She gaped at him. "Really?" She was afraid that at any moment, she'd wake up. None of this could be true. Gaara? Calling her his 'special person'? As if.

He rolled his eyes. "Is that the only word you know? Really?" He sobered. "Of course it's true…I don't lie." A certain twist in his stomach reminded him that wasn't true. What was he doing now, pretending to be an exchange student?

"Unless it's necessary," she finished for him, as though she had read his mind.

He sighed, weary. "Right."

She started to speak, but Anko burst through the portrait hole. "Sleepover!" she yelled. She was followed by the rest of the much more subdued shinobi.

Meg raised an eyebrow, forgetting what she'd been about to say. "Is it allowed for students of other houses to sleep here?"

Gaara shrugged. "Apparently. Anko probably wouldn't care, even if it wasn't."

She nodded. "You're probably right." She sighed, and looked into the fire, hoping for some kind of comfort. She'd been caught up in her conversation with Gaara, but now she realized, she'd lost more than her father, today. She'd also lost Gaara…Maybe Hinata, too, but she had to wonder if Hinata would put space between them. When Hinata sat down next to her and wrapped her arms around Meg sympathetically, she decided that no, Hinata would still be her friend.

She hugged her back. "Hinata, I need to talk to you…"

"Okay."

"It's about Gaara," Meg whispered softly in her ear, not wanting Gaara to hear.

Of course, he did hear, and his interest was piqued. But Hinata knew he could hear, and so they left to go to their dormitory. He shrugged it off. The rest of the Gryffindors were returning now, so the room wasn't so quiet anymore. He let himself drown in the conversations, not wanting to drown in his thoughts…

* * *

"So what's up?" Hinata was concerned for her friend. That she wanted to talk about Gaara when her father had just died meant that something had happened between them. Hopefully, he hadn't revealed anything…Almost as soon as she had thought it, Hinata brushed it away. Gaara wouldn't do that. His duty was everything, even more than love…She pushed that thought away. If Meg knew Gaara loved her as she so obviously loved him, it would only be harder when they left…

"I think…Gaara…I have a headache," she said, with a miserable twang in her voice. She cleared her throat, and rubbed her temples. "Sorry. Anyway, I think I've fallen in love…and I can't climb out."

This stunned Hinata briefly. "What—why do you want to climb out?"

"Because he's leaving," she said miserably. "He's not making it easy, either. He said that he would die for me…is that like saying he loves me? He's leaving, and he's going to crush my heart if I can't stop loving him, now."

"But—"

"I know," Meg interrupted, "I'm running away. But it feels like he is, too. Even if I know that this isn't true…Love isn't logical. Why should a person in love be? Logical, I mean."

Hinata looked at her, a little sadness filling her. Meg shouldn't feel this way—she was only eighteen. Okay, so Hinata was even younger than that, but surely, being a ninja matured people quicker? All that death must have some effect on them.

Meg seemed to read her thoughts—except, naturally for the ninja bit. "I know. Why so cynical? You have to remember, I watched my mother die, unable to save her. And now, I find out my...dad has died, too. I couldn't save them, Hinata. I can't save Gaara, and now I can't save me."

"Gaara doesn't need saving. I don't understand."

"Oh, come on. Surely you've seen. He's lost." Meg looked at her, trying to read Hinata's eyes. All she could see was confusion.

"No…I haven't." Suddenly, Hinata began to wonder how much she had missed where Gaara was concerned. She had seen him in the Chuunin exams, and he was certainly a step up from there. And when he had been brought back to life after losing Shukaku, he seemed even more stable. If she had seen Gaara in these extremes, did it make sense that now he seemed normal, even if he wasn't? She considered this. She decided it did. "I guess, he's changed so much, I didn't notice that he was still lost…"

"He was worse before...?" Meg added a lilt to the end of her sentence, making it a question as an afterthought, it seemed.

"Much."

Meg seemed to accept that. "Even so, he's still…not whole. And I can't fix him." Tears started flowing down her face.

"I don't think…anyone can fix him, not completely," Hinata said gently, trying to make this easier for Meg. "He hasn't had an easy life; none of us have." Her eyes hardened, remembering how the citizens had shunned Naruto. "But that's not my story to tell. If you knew the story, though, you might understand…"

"Maybe you're right," she said through her tears. "Maybe. But I honestly don't want to think about that. I'd rather think it's just a shortcoming of mine that can't save him."

"That's very heroic of you, but that doesn't make it true. You can't blame yourself."

"No, I need to. Then there's still that hope that _someone_ can fix him."

"You really would rather put yourself in a bad light in hope that he'll feel better one day, than accept that it's not your fault?"

Meg just looked back at her. She nodded tightly.

Hinata sighed. She really _was_ in love.

* * *

When Patricia entered through the portrait hole and saw everyone she knew to be a shinobi there, the truth instantly clicked in her head. Orochimaru, the bad guy Tenten and Sai had mentioned planned on attacking tonight, and the shinobi were going to guard Harry at all costs.

"Snowflake!" Sai said cheerfully, suddenly appearing in her face.

Even _he_ was here, fake smile in place.

Blush spread up her cheeks as she remembered earlier that day, in the hallway. "Um, hey, Sai."

He ruffled her hair, causing her to frown. "Little Mouse says hi."

"…And she couldn't cross the room to say it herself?" Patricia asked, spying Tenten across the room, talking to the stoic Neji.

He shrugged. "She's occupied, apparently."

"Ah." Silence hung awkwardly in the air, at least for Patricia. Sai seemed quite comfortable.

Then he spoke. "I assume you know what will happen tonight."

"I assume so, too." She watched his face, hoping for a reaction. She didn't get one.

"So, when everything goes down, I want you to stay out of the fight, okay? It would be…very bad, I think, if any of you students were to get hurt." He didn't really seem concerned with the rest of the students, though, as he gazed intently at her face.

She gulped, and opened her mouth to speak. He stopped her, placing a finger on her lips. "Good." He turned, starting to walk away, but Patricia grabbed his arm, stopping him. He turned, eyes surprised, but his smile never slipped.

As surprised as he was, Patricia was more surprised at her boldness. She hoped it wouldn't die out on her. She took a breath. "Stop."

He was confused; she saw that in his eyes. She saw that it was the last thing he expected her to say. "Stop what?"

"Stop pulling away; stop confusing me with your multiple personalities; just stop."

"Multiple personalities?" His smile faltered briefly.

"This afternoon, you're all close and crap, and now you're acting like my dad. 'Stay on the sidewalk, Patricia.' Maybe you're advice is intelligent, but I'm afraid that I'll have to go against your wishes. I'm protecting everyone, here because I care about everyone else's safety more than my own. I'm fighting along with you guys. And if I die…That's my problem." Her voice was low and fierce. It brooked no argument.

He looked as stunned as she felt—his eyes did, anyway. The smile was still firmly in place.

"And another thing. Stop smiling. It's pissing me off." She stomped off, leaving a now thoroughly amused Sai behind.

His amusement vanished later, when he realized she had been serious.

* * *

Shinobi are masters of deception.

They all appeared asleep, and no one knew that they were really wide awake, just waiting…

* * *

Hands shook Sasuke awake. He sat up, and punched Kabuto across the room. Karin considered it a blessing that she hadn't been forced to wake him. Orochimaru chuckled as Kabuto stood up, dusting himself off.

"Ready, Sasuke-kun?" Orochimaru's whispery voice carried only to Sasuke's ears.

Sasuke nodded, though he wasn't sure just how ready he was. "Let's go."

They filed out of the door; Sasuke and Karin bring up the rear. Before they crossed the threshold, Sasuke paused, wrapping his arms around Karin and kissing her gently. He released her and continued out the door. She stared after him, before racing after him, closing the door softly. She slid her hand into his.

What none of them realized was that someone had heard this all.

Shivering in his bed, not truly comprehending what he had heard, Draco Malfoy lay awake, stunned. After a moment, he stood, following them.

He came to the end of the hallway, watching them exit the common room. He followed after them, watching them slide out of the wall. He dashed across the common room, waiting briefly before going through the entrance. It wouldn't do to let them know he was following them; no it wouldn't, not at all. He raced to the corner, peering around it. They were gone. He frowned. Where had they gone?

"Draco." He jumped, spinning around. It was Sasuke.

"Oh, hello Sasuke."

"Go back to bed, Draco. You don't want to be involved in this."

"What's going on?"

"Nothing you need to worry about—we'll handle this."

"You and Snake Man?"

He chuckled. "Yeah. And the rest of the exchange students."

Draco's eyes narrowed. "If this involves Sakura, Uchiha," he snapped, spitting his last name, "I have every right to know."

"Not if she hasn't told you. I suppose, though, I could let something slip…we're going to the Gryffindor Dormitories…If you were wondering. Now go back to bed and stay out of this."

And then he was gone. "As if," Draco muttered, and headed up to the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

An explosion rocked the school, waking everyone and alerting the awake that it was time.

The woman formerly known as 'The Fat Lady' would be only that—formerly known.

We now ask that you join us in a moment of silence.

Of course, the silence won't last long, because the next sound was screams of students, and the yelling of shinobi.

All had been set off by a wise placement of exploding tags.

* * *

Meg jolted awake to see Hinata and Sakura already moving, throwing their trunks open, pulling out pouches that jingled with metal contents and strapping them on. The next thing she became aware of was that they were dressed differently then she had ever seen them, though she could tell their clothing was Japanese, which made sense. "What's going on?"

Hinata turned to her. Her eyes were surrounded by bulging veins. Meg fell back, and gasped. "You three stay here." Her voice was full of authority, demanding to be obeyed.

Then they were out the door.

The three girls remaining exchanged a look. Ginny said what they were all thinking. "As if." Grabbing their wands, they too were out the door. They met Harry and Ron on the way down, who also had been told to 'stay put', and had disobeyed.

When they reached the common room, they met a scene of disarray—all the shinobi were fighting, there was rubble everywhere, and most disturbing, none of the shinobi used their wands.

As they stood there gaping, Patricia pushed by them, wand out, running down the rest of the stairs. "Stupefy!" she was yelling repeatedly, pointing her wand at many of the shinobi who were attacking the exchange students.

That was all it took, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Meg followed suit, racing into the room, wands at the ready.

* * *

Sakura was fighting a Sound shinobi, slamming her fist into his chest when she saw them. There were six wizards and witches fighting along with them—all of which had been told to stay out.

She sighed. Naturally they hadn't listened. Then she caught sight of something that made the breath catch in her throat, utterly distracting her from the fight.

Draco Malfoy was also racing into the room, wand drawn, screaming curses.

WHUMPH! Sakura flew backwards. In her distraction, she'd failed to notice that the ninja she'd previously knocked over had recovered and attacked her.

She stood, trembling, but pushed Draco to the back of her mind.

Shinobi are EMOTIONLESS! She screamed in her head. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!

In her fury at herself, she managed to take out three ninja.

* * *

Meg's attention was focused mainly on Gaara.

She was of course, fighting, screaming things like, "Expelliarmus, stupefy, petrificus totalus!" But he had her attention. He was amazing…He had something on his back, huge, shaped like a gourd—did they honestly come that BIG?

Apparently so.

And he carried it without a sweat. That wasn't the weirdest thing, though. Sand was…leaking from it, for lack of a better word. No, not leaking. Floating from it, from a hole where the cork had been removed. The sand spun around him, blocking all the knives and…stars?…from reaching him. It was intense. (1)

He moved his hands, and the sand actually seemed to be obeying him.

It was freaky, sort of. But not really, at the same time. Several things had been 'freaky' during the fight. And it was difficult for her to put 'Gaara' and 'freaky' in the same sentence.

The first creepy thing had been the apparent leader for the bad guys. His skin was unnaturally white, like he was trying to imitate that 80's rock band…Kiss. His hair was black, too straight, and unnatural as his purple eye make up.

The second creepy and somewhat—no, VERY—disgusting thing was his tongue. It was unnaturally long, and strong. (2) It had been proven so after emerging from his already vile mouth and wrapping around Naruto's neck, picking him up off the floor, before Naruto…vanished.

Which was the third creepy thing. Everyone kept vanishing. It happened in three ways—there would merely be a poof of smoke, and they were gone; a cloud of smoke, and where they were there was a log; or there was, again, the smoke, and leaves fluttered down from where they had been.

The 'exchange students', though she doubted they were, didn't use wands. Which was the fourth creepy thing, because very…magical things happened anyway.

Her eyes found Gaara again, as her opponent was petrified.

The breath she had just inhaled was released in a gasp of horror. Gaara was frozen, unmoving. The 'Oreo Man', as she had taken to calling him in her mind, had his repulsive tongue wrapped around _her Gaara_…

She screamed. And then she uttered an Unforgivable Curse, directing her wand at the creep. "CRUCIO!"

The freak's eyes widened as he turned to gape at her in horror. Then he was writhing on the floor in clear agony.

Satisfaction raced through her. Gaara would be safe. Then there was extreme guilt. Was she enjoying this?

The answer was simple. Yes. A lot.

She stopped and fell to her knees, sobbing silently. She looked up through her tears to notice that Gaara was gone, a pile of sand in the place where he'd been.

The next thing she saw was the freaky 'Oreo Man' running towards her in anger, though there was a strange smile on his face, like he'd enjoyed the pain.

Masochistic and sadistic? She wondered. Then everything went black.

Not that she was knocked out.

"Meg?"

His sweet voice, whispered through the darkness.

"Gaara?" She felt him wrap his arms around her. She leaned into him. "I'm a monster."

"…What do you mean?" She heard the surprise in his voice.

"I wanted…I wanted to hurt him…and when I did, it felt good…I'm like a sadistic monster," she moaned.

To her surprise, he laughed bitterly. "Most monsters are. Trust me when I say this, though, you aren't a monster. I was one long enough to know. Besides, I saw exactly what you did. You only wanted to hurt him like that because you thought he was hurting me."

"You…He didn't hurt you?" Her voice was thick with confusion.

"Only my clone. Don't worry. You aren't a monster."

She was still confused. "Clone? Gaara, what—"

"I have to go. I guess you won't stay in here, even if I ask you to." He stood, made a sign with his hands in the darkness, and the sand bulb fell from around them.

Meg stood slowly. She pushed her emotions back, and started to fight the Oreo Man with Gaara.

* * *

Sasuke and Karin were uninvolved, as of yet. They stood in corner, cloaked with shadow, invisible as only shinobi could be. (3)

"Are you sure you can do this?" Karin whispered.

"I think so. Since Gaara and Meg are distracting him, I should be able to attack with him being none the wiser…" he murmured in response.

"Let's go…" She took his hand, squeezing it gently, and together, they entered the battlefield, sliding through the fights. Completely silent, they were behind Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru-sama…" Sasuke spoke the name softly, yet his 'master' heard him.

"I'm busy, Sasuke-kun."

"This is important…" Red swirled through his eyes, along with the strangest pattern…

Orochimaru spun around, utterly exasperated with the Uchiha prodigy. "What do you want?" he started to snap, but his voice was cut off with a gasp as he was locked into Sasuke's genjutsu.

"Mangekyou?" he asked instead, shocked to find himself in a place so similar to what Itachi had executed to him years before. He was chained to a board. The chains wrapped around him were made of…fire? Sasuke through and through. "That's not possible. You never had a best friend to kill!"

"No…I'm not like Itachi. Kakashi-sensei gave me the idea, really. He created his own Sharingan; did you know that? Zenaku helped me come up with it. And I didn't have to kill anyone…Heh. Guess that means you'll still be the first."

"The first…?"

"Like you don't know. The first person I kill."

Orochimaru's eyes widened as he realized that his student had not interrupted his fight to show him that he had created a new jutsu, but had stopped him to invoke his death.

"Like I said, I'm not like my brother. I don't do torture…this will be quick. And relatively painless. Zenaku helped me with a lot of things, did you know? Chidori is so simple, now…I've perfected it, Orochimaru-sama. I can perform Raikiri. How fitting. A jutsu you could never perform, causing your death. Hmmm…enough with the small talk, I think. RAIKIRI!" He yelled the last word, and ran at Orochimaru, Kakashi's technique exploding from his hand in the white fire of lightning.

As Sasuke's hand connected with Orochimaru's chest, and didn't stop, Orochimaru's body exploded.

At last, the other snake lord had been defeated.

Sasuke returned to the common room. The fights had all paused, and everyone gazed at the spot where Orochimaru's body had 'spontaneously combusted'. Sasuke, weak from the exhaustion of performing two high-level techniques, collapsed.

With no hesitation, Karin scooped him up and ran out of the portrait hole.

Everyone stared after them.

And then they seemed to remember why they were there. The fighting commenced again. The Sound shinobi were losing…

And then it was over.

"Naruto." Kakashi spoke from his collapsed spot. "Go check on Sasuke. Then bring him here."

"'Kay." Naruto turned to Hinata before he left, though. "Hinata?"

She looked up at him, red tingeing her cheeks.

Surprising her, he kissed her cheek shyly. Then he hugged her tightly. "You are…amazing. You've changed so much, Hinata-chan. And…I love you."

"Naruto?"

"Yes?" He didn't want to let her go, and he prayed that she wouldn't ask him to.

"I… Thank you, first of all. Your opinion is the most important thing to me. And…I love you, too, Naruto-kun." She ducked her blushing face.

He smiled. "You didn't stutter."

"You make me brave, Naruto-kun." She smiled to herself.

"Gotta go," he murmured. He left to find Sasuke, leaving a very pleased Hinata.

* * *

Elsewhere, a less pleased Meg was curled up on the floor, with her head on Gaara's lap. They weren't talking. Meg had tears running down her face, and Gaara silently ran his fingers through her silky raven hair.

Even though Meg was absolutely miserable, Gaara didn't want this to end. He didn't want to leave her. It was selfish, but true. In a few moments, when Naruto returned with Sasuke and Karin, every student in the school, and some of the faculty, would have to be obliviated, forgetting that Gaara and all the rest of the shinobi had ever been there. The teacher replacements were prepared. No one would ever know.

But he couldn't shake the feeling that some students would have a dim memory of it.

Well…not really a memory, but a feeling that they'd lost something…or someone.

Meg was the one he was concerned about the most. She had so deeply entwined her life with the shinobi's that he wasn't sure if she would survive. Patricia and Draco were at risk, too, but naturally, he wasn't terribly concerned about them.

So he prayed that Naruto wouldn't find Sasuke and Karin. That wouldn't stop this, though. The ninja's would continue without them.

It turned out not to matter, anyway. Naruto returned, carrying Sasuke. Karin stood beside him, holding Sasuke's hand.

McGonagall stood, now. She'd been leaning against the back of the couch, a little shaky. "Will all the students please report to the Great Hall? Professor Haku, will you get all the students from the other houses?" McGonagall had been briefed. She had agreed, if a little hesitant.

Haku nodded and left.

Gaara slid his arm around Meg's waist and pulled her up with him. "Come on," he said softly.

As they walked down to the Great Hall, Meg asked, "Gaara? What does the symbol on your forehead mean?"

His lips quirked upward. "Love."

"Huh. I think Hinata told me that..." They joined the masses entering the Great Hall.

"Meg?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry." He kissed her softly, like he was afraid he'd break her. He was. Not physically, but emotionally. He knew he was taking this too far, but it seemed wrong to leave her without kissing her just once. He pulled back and stared ahead.

"I am too," she whispered.

All the students were in the Great Hall, now, and the obliviation process began. Meg clutched Gaara, not wanting to let him go.

As each student's memory was erased, they were placed under a sleeping genjutsu and carried back to their room.

The line was shortening now, until finally, it was Meg's turn. She stared at Gaara for just a moment, memorizing his face, particularly his 'love' tattoo.

And then her world went black, her memories of her beloved gone.

* * *

The next morning when she woke up, she remembered that her father had perished the day before.

She'd never felt so completely and utterly alone—she felt like she'd lost more than just her father, but her best friend, and someone who was more.

She started to cry again.

* * *

_So. You people probably hate me now. PLEASE DON'T! This chapter was meant to be the last, but obviously it's not. I hated to make this happen, but logically, it had to. The wizards couldn't know—or at least, they couldn't remember—about the shinobi. When I first began writing this story, no one was going to be obliviated, and in the end, Meg would just happily go with Gaara, and Sai would stay. I wasn't sure what would happen to Sakura and Draco, but I was getting to that. And then THIS popped into my head. Naturally, I didn't want it to happen, but…it had to. Everything became clear…as mud, anyway. This isn't over._

_But my question is, __**do you guys want a sequel (and if so, please suggest a name), or do you want me to just post more chapters for this story**__? I'm leaving it totally up to you, since you have all been so loyal and helpful! This is your reward…aside from me updating, although you may not appreciate this upload. I still love you. (You know what's weird? As I type this in italics, I have to tilt my head to the right to read/write it. That IS weird…)_

_OH yeah! Did anyone find the allusion to the lyrics? Anyone who figures it out—even if there's more than one, although I doubt it—gets the next chapter dedicated to them! Or the first chapter of the sequel. You know._

_This upload was WAY longer than normal, for your info. Just a little gift. Please review, even if it's just to flame!_

_(1) For the purposes of this story, Gaara still has control over his sand, although Shukaku has been removed. I have no idea if this is true for Masashi's manga, but it's somewhat important. Umm… the sand doesn't automatically protect him. He has to make it protect him, but his peripheral vision is getting better everyday! Yay, Gaara!  
__(2) You guys should already know my opinion—Oreo's tongue is steroid enhanced.  
(3) And possibly one of my vice principals. He's always suddenly just…THERE! It's irritating, because he always takes my Oreos… or my friend's iPod. So rude. Seriously, though. My friends and I will look around, see the coast is clear, and start eating Oreos…But then HE shows up out of no where! IT'S SO UNFAIR!_

_IBG out! (This was a huge note!)_

_Special response to THE Hyuuga Neji: 1. Thank you so, so much. I really think my writing has improved, too, and I'm glad I'm not alone in this assumption. You rock! 2. Sax, eh? Sweet. I …WOODWIND POWER! Sorry, I know that was random. Sort of. My main instrument is the clarinet, so… 3. Just…thanks in general._


	11. Epilogue

_I never meant to make you people cry…jeez._

_The next part of this story will be called Memories of the Heart. The title was suggested by Inner Cameron! Congrats!_

_By the way, seeing as none of you found the RJA allusion, this chapter is dedicated to (drumroll please) ME! Yay, IBG-chan! I may as well tell you the song and stuff…The song was Cat and Mouse, by the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Look up the lyrics, and then go look at the chapter, again. Happy face! You should listen to the song, too. It's absolutely beautiful._

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed! We successfully reached—and went beyond—150 reviews! Today, I'm not going to specifically thank anyone…too lazy. Please read on and enjoy!_

_(As a side note, I'm experimenting with how I'm going to write this story. I really want to write the sequel in shifting points of view—a different pov per chapter, not paragraph. This is in Meg's pov. Do you guys like it, or should I stick to an omniscient narrator?)_

* * *

Hogwarts Graduation. A time that was supposed to be filled with joy, and maybe some disappointment that it was over…

I didn't really care. I had no home to go to, since my parents were dead. The Weasley's had told me that I could stay with them this summer, as I was supposedly a 'friend' of Ginny and Ron. Whoop-di-doo. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to, but unless I could figure something out, it looked like that was the only option.

Speaking of my so-called 'friends', Harry, Hermione, and Ron all looked incredibly excited. Probably by the fact that they were _finally_ getting out of here.

Like most things about Hogwarts, the graduation is remarkably low-key. There's not a formal assembly, no boring valedictorian speech, or anything like that. We all stood wherever we wanted to. So here I was, sandwiched between Ginny and Patricia Edwards, listening to a boring speech from McGonagall about how much our generation would be missed.

Uh-huh. I'm sure.

Patricia looked equally bored. I considered talking to her, but she wasn't one of my 'friends', so I decided against it.

My 'friends'. I should really get some real ones. I don't have anything against them, but whenever I hung out with them, I tended to feel a bit like a fifth-wheel. Not that it was even their fault. But since my father had passed, I tended not to really…be there. So eventually, they gave up trying to talk to me too much. I was just a prop in their group…

If I was honest with my self, it felt like I had lost so much more than just my dad, who I wasn't too crazy about, anyway. It was like…I'd also lost a best friend…and someone who was so much more. This was ridiculous. I tried to shake the feeling, but I couldn't.

I felt completely and utterly alone. Despite the fact that I was surrounded by people, I was alone.

Empty. I felt empty.

They were calling my name, now. I walked up to receive my diploma, or whatever it was. I think Mrs. Weasley might have clapped. Out of pity, I guess. That was probably why she'd invited me to stay with them—pity.

I didn't want pity. No one does.

Right then, shaking McGonagall's hand with a fake smile, I decided against going to the Weasley's. I wasn't sure what I would do, but I didn't want to spend my summer with people who pitied me.

Ah. The problem was there was no way to tell that to Mrs. Weasley. She'd probably insist on it. I could put it off, for a while. I had to go to my old home to get some things. I wondered how long I _could_ put it off.

At last, it was over. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley wanted to take me with them in their car, but I declined, pointing out that even if they did have an enlarging spell on the car, eight Weasleys, a Potter, a Granger, and Teddy and his Grandmother was a bit crowded. They agreed in the end, and I headed out to the train.

Some of the compartments were empty, to my pleasure. Sometimes, it was nice to be alone. I preferred to ride the train that way, with just me in an empty compartment. That's how I'd come to school, and that's how I'd leave.

Something flickered in my memory. On the Hogwarts Express, riding alone. The door slid open and…

The memory was immediately cut short.

Huh. That was weird. I brushed it off, collapsing into a seat by the window. "I should probably put my bags up," I muttered to myself quietly. I sighed and stood to do so, sliding my bag into the compartment above my head. Before closing it, I took a book out. It was a long ride back home, after all.

A moment of déjà vu occurred as the door opened. I glanced up and saw Patricia. She smiled apologetically. "You don't mind if I sit in here with you, do you? I won't disturb you or anything." The smile she was giving me was empty. Just like mine.

"Yeah. It's fine." It wasn't, but meanness wasn't in my personality—I hoped not, anyway.

"Thanks." She put her bags up, too, and then sat down.

For a while, we rode in silence. Patricia looked like she wanted to ask me something. Finally, I got frustrated. "What?"

She blushed, the pink rolling upward across her pale cheeks. "You feel it, too, right?"

I was curious, now. "I feel what?"

"Like you've lost something." She looked at me, wanting me to understand. "Someone."

I skirted her question. "Of course I do. My dad just died."

She shook her head. "No, more than that. You lost your dad, I know, but does it feel like you lost more, a friend, maybe?"

I stared at her, at a loss. How had she so perfectly capture my feelings? "Yeah…and someone who was more than a friend, I think."

She smiled, looking a little relieved. "I was also wondering…"

"Go ahead." My interest was piqued, now. What else had she perceived?

"Well, don't take any offense, but before this year, you didn't even give Harry and his friends the time of day, and now you're all…best friends, or something."

I laughed. It was a surprising sound. I hadn't laughed since before my dad died. "We're hardly what you would call 'best friends'. I think they just tolerate me. But I get what you're saying. I guess the first time we hung out was in Hogsmeade. The first trip of the year." Another memory flickered. Being a bit more comfortable with Harry and Co. then was normal, because someone else was there…

Patricia was scrutinizing my face when I looked at her again. She spoke. "Do you…ever get these weird flashbacks? They're just memories, but then, they cut off, right at the climax?"

I gaped at her. "I've gotten two, today," I whispered. What did this mean?

Patricia looked excited. "I'm not going crazy!" She looked quite pleased by this fact, and I can't say I blamed her. She started babbling, now. "Okay, so I've been having these flashbacks since the Quidditch season ended. I went to Madam Pompfrey to see what was going on, but she had no idea. So I went to the library to see if I could figure anything out, but I couldn't find anything! I gave up for a while, and then I found this. I was actually doing research for the healing class they were giving as an extracurricular course, and I found something about being obliviated. It said if you were able to do the spell well enough you could block certain things, rather than blocking a person's whole memory! It said a person might experience a few flashbacks after a few months. So then I was thinking about it later. I wouldn't remember being obliviated, and no one else would for that matter, either, so I might have been. Everything fit!" She paused. "What do you think?"

I considered what she had said. It _did_ fit. "I think, Patricia dear, you may be on to something." I hesitated. "How did you know that I might be experiencing this, too?"

She looked surprised. She thought about it briefly and then explained, "Well, sometimes, when I had a flashback, I would see you, right before my memory cut off."

"You know, you're kind of a genius. Why aren't you in Ravenclaw?" She shrugged. I continued. "This is all nice and dandy, but there's not a cure for obliviation, right?"

She smiled. "No. There's not a cure…_yet_."

I waited, sensing a challenge in her stance.

"Would you be interested in finding one?"

* * *

_And that's a wrap! The plan wasn't for them to figure out that they'd been obliviated, yet, but hey! Spontaneity is good, right? Mostly, though, I just got carried away._

_I will definitely tell you when I post the sequel…I'm planning on getting it up by February 19! (That's a month from now!) However, no promises! I might get it up before…maybe after! No bugging me until that date, though. If you want to be sure you don't miss it, you should add me to your author alert subscription. (Hint, hint) And if you wanted to be really nice, you could add me to Favorite Author, too…(we're going to ignore the fact that some of you already have me on alert/favorite.)_

_In the meantime, I've revamped chapter one! Check it out! _

_Toodleoo!_

_IBG out!_


	12. Sequel!

Drum roll please...

THE SEQUEL IS UP!

Props to me for getting it up a day early! YOSH!

Anyway, the sequel is called Memories of the Heart. Please read!!!


	13. Plagiarism? Heck, no!

Okay, I'm absolutely pissed right now. It's really, really annoying to have someone tell me that I'm plagiarizing.

Um, newsflash? I'm not. I wrote Harry Potter and the Other Snake Lord, okay? Me. Originally GaaraRoxmySox, then Invasion of the Band Geeks, and now, AFireintheAttic. Me! Tada?

Yeah, anywhere else, that previous paragraph would have annoyed the crap out of me. But this is so frustrating. Honestly, it's one thing to be plagiarized—which is also _really_ frustrating—but it's another thing to be accused of plagiarizing.

And, I just spent way too much time searching for the stupid story in the crossover section. After looking through every story, I didn't see one that looked like mine—of course, I was only reading the summaries.

If, by any chance, my wonderful readers, you are still reading Naruto and Harry Potter fictions, please give me a heads up if you see something that is like this. What I've been told—twice, now!—is that "I" copied it word for word, but I changed a few things. So, the bogus copy should be almost exactly like mine, but a bit different in the first chapter, or so.

I really don't even understand why someone would steal THIS story. It's not even that good. Really? Sheesh.

Thank you guys for taking the time to read… and I understand if you don't want to look for it. I'm not asking you to go out of your way, just, if you happen to come across it, please let me know.

~AFireintheAttic


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